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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-21 Daily Xml
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SEAFORD HEIGHTS DEVELOPMENT

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:07): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the Seaford Heights development.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: I read with great interest the article in today's Southern Times Messenger concerning the Seaford Heights housing plan that the headline claims endangers tourism, amongst other economic opportunities.

The Seaford Heights development will comprise 1,130 homes on a 77-hectare site that is east of South Road and falls within what I have defined in my bill before this chamber as the Willunga Basin. Local winemakers, business owners and environmental groups, amongst others, are urging the government to have a rethink. The City of Onkaparinga is being accused of pushing the development while the state government is pushing for the development assessment plan. I was particularly interested to read the following:

Mawson MP Leon Bignell (ALP) is circulating a petition amongst local winemakers, business owners and tourism operators, urging his Labor state government to rethink the development. A public hearing will be held...(next) Tuesday.

My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the local ALP member speaking on behalf of the government, and has the government shifted its policy on this development?

2. Why did the government not exclude that area from the Greater Adelaide plan if the local member for Mawson has concerns about the development?

3. Has the government sold the land through the Land Management Corporation?

4. Will the government now support the Family First Willunga Basin Protection Bill?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:08): If the honourable member wanted to protect that part of the Willunga Basin, given that it has been zoned for housing since at least 1993 or before, it is a pity he didn't take action to do that in the eight years he was a member of the government. It has been zoned for redevelopment for many years; in fact, it was included in the first urban growth boundary (and I think minister Laidlaw was the minister at the time) that included most of that land in 2003.

There has not been any change to the urban growth boundary. Let me put it this way: the only change in the southern areas to the urban growth boundary, apart from a very minor adjustment in that area, was the addition of Bowering Hill, which is west of Main South Road. I have made it clear in the time that I have been Minister for Urban Development and Planning that we did not wish to see any further development east of Main South Road.

Of course, with respect to this proposal, I believe that the Land Management Corporation sold the land two or three years ago to, I think, Fairmont Homes, but my advice is that it had been zoned for residential development significantly before that. That land, as I said, has been in the urban growth boundary for many years.

The honourable member asked about what my colleague the member for Mawson is doing. The member for Mawson is rightfully concerned that any development in that area, given that it is towards the entrance of McLaren Vale, should not unnecessarily intrude or deter tourism development in that area. Certainly, he has been lobbying me very hard; in fact, I had a meeting with him this morning on this very matter. He has been lobbying very hard to ensure that any development in this area, given that it has been approved for many years, should have the minimum impact upon the McLaren Vale region, and I can fully understand why he would do that.

At this stage, the development plan is with the Onkaparinga council. My understanding is that it has not yet left the council. It has been out for consultation, but I am not sure what the final version of that plan will be. Obviously, people within the McLaren Vale wine district and others had the opportunity first with the council to seek changes to that development plan, and I would encourage them to do so.

Once it leaves the council, it will then come to the Department of Planning and Local Government for further consideration. Obviously, I would be keen to ensure that any development plan amendment, before it is finally approved, would take into account these important issues. I think that the main issues that seem to have been raised down there are adequate screening and an assurance that any development would not impact upon the tourism value of the McLaren Vale wine region.

That is certainly entirely consistent with Labor Party policy, and I believe that the member for Mawson is acting appropriately in relation to that. As for preventing any development there, given that, as I said, this land has been zoned residential for almost 20 years—it may be longer; we have only been able to follow it back that far, and it may well have been zoned earlier than that—it is inevitable that we use it for that.

However, that said, it is important that any development there should not impact unduly on the tourism value of McLaren Vale. There should be appropriate screening and location of facilities to ensure that that does not happen. As I said, the member for Mawson has already seen me in relation to those matters. He has lobbied me. The development plan amendment has not yet left council. It may well be that the council makes changes; so be it, but it will go to the department and then to me sometime later. The initial decisions to provide this land for housing were made decades ago.

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