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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-10-15 Daily Xml
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Question Time

30-YEAR PLAN FOR GREATER ADELAIDE

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Members would be aware that the government has released its draft 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide. What has been of considerable interest to a number of people is the proposal in the plan to have, I think, 139,000 extra residents plugged in around the community of Roseworthy over the life of the plan. As we know, this is some of the best farming land in the nation. Minister Gago screws up her face when I say it is the best farming land. It is some of the best farming land.

The Hon. G.E. Gago: Same old, same old!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The same old, same old whinge and twisted look from the other side. In fact, this year, I suspect that some of the best wheat crops ever produced will be harvested in that area. The minister has been reluctant and, in fact, has refused to discuss any of the options that were put forward for future growth. Of course, the question that he has refused to answer is why the government chose Roseworthy for the 139,000 people. My question is: has the minister or any of his staff met with any of the present owners of the land around Roseworthy or anybody who has an option over those same parcels of land?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:24): First of all, let us get the facts correct because it is always important that we do that.

An honourable member: Not to them!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, no; it is not important to them, but it is important for the government before we make any comments that we deal with the facts at hand.

If one looks at the area called Barossa, the net additional population proposed for that area—those within corridors, including transit oriented development, 74,400; fringe growth, 43,800; townships, 20,800, for a total of 139,000. That includes, of course, areas around Two Wells, Roseworthy, Freeling and Kapunda, where I think a little increase is proposed. These were all discussed by the relevant councils, in the area of Light and Barossa, for example. That is the total for the entire area. So, a significant proportion in that area would be within the corridor areas. Roseworthy is good grain growing land. The fact is that the options that the government—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, it is interesting that the Hon. Mr Parnell and others have been talking about Mount Barker. It is interesting that the member did not use Mount Barker. If one looks at most of the area south of Mount Barker, which the government had proposed be looked at, there are a lot of little farmlets there with the odd alpaca or a few—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: I didn't ask about Mount Barker.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, no; this is all part of the same argument, that this was intensive agriculture. I refer to some of the growth area around the Gawler fringe—at Gawler East, for example, where much of the growth will take place in the future within the existing boundary and where the main crop growing there at present is Scotch thistles. There's the odd horse—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Where?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: This is on the land at the east of Gawler, where the current—

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Well, it's all part of the growth. It has all been included in the fringe area. There has already been a significant subdivision in the area of Roseworthy. Before this government came to office, it was proposed that some of the industrial growth around—is it the Kingsford or Kingsmead Estate, that particular industrial area where the Amcor factory is?

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: Kingsford.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Kingsford Estate. I thank the honourable member. That has been there—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: All I am asking is: have you met with the owners? It is a pretty simple question. I'm not worried about Scotch thistles. Have you met with the owners?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I thought your question was about the agricultural value of the land and so on. Do you want me to answer or not?

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Have you met with the owners?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Have I met with individual owners—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: I do not know who all the owners of the area are. I have certainly met with—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: In fact, if one looks at the area of Roseworthy, there are numerous landowners. There are a number of small holdings as well as some larger holdings. One of those, of course, is the University of Adelaide, one of the land owners that I am aware of—or the adjacent landholders. Yes, I have met with the university in relation to that and, subsequent to the 30-year plan, I have met with a number of developers who have had proposals for that area subsequent to the 30-year plan being put out.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: It is pretty obvious; because even the previous Liberal government signalled the Kingsford Estate to be a growth area, and councils have been touting it for some time. That is where most of the growth is likely to be. A number of developers would have taken options on land all over the place, thinking about where the expansion would be. Those who got it right may ultimately prevail, I suppose, but there will be plenty of others who would have got it wrong. Given that Adelaide is likely to grow, if people buy land on the fringes of the current growth boundary, sooner or later they will take the decision, if Adelaide continues to grow, that any area on the fringe of the boundary is ultimately likely to be included.

As to Roseworthy being a high value agricultural area, there are some good crops in the area but, when debating the bill last night, we discussed areas where there is intensive high value agriculture, such as McLaren Vale (where, in fact, there is high value horticulture) and the Barossa Valley which this government specifically excluded before the 30-year process. We made that quite clear. We also made it clear before the process that we would preserve the green buffer between the current Gawler township and the current urban growth boundary; that is, north of the area of Munno Para.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: To address that quite spurious and offensive interjection, that promise was made by the government in the 2002 election campaign—well before the current member for Light won the seat in the 2006 election; so let us deal with that offensive rubbish right now.

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