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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-08 Daily Xml
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Fort Largs

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (15:08): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation on the subject of Fort Largs.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: Fort Largs is one of Adelaide's two pre-federation coastal forts. Built in 1883, Fort Largs still stands in good condition on Lefevre Peninsula. The fort has played a significant part in the heritage of our state, having been used first to defend our coast and variously as a military barracks, to detain enemy aliens during the First World War, as part of the Fort Largs Police Academy, as an exhibition house for the firearms collection of the SA Museum, and as the storage area for items confiscated by Adelaide's police forces.

Architecturally, Fort Largs represents important heritage value. The site is listed on the State Heritage Register with the following citation:

Fort Largs is important because it represents the end of an era of coastal fortification philosophy—in terms of planning, design and construction—spanning over three centuries.

Since the commissioning of the new Police Academy complex in February 2012, the old fort has been transferred to state government hands. Recently, it has been variously reported in the media that the government is considering selling the fort and the surrounding land for development, with the potential for up to 200 or even 250 homes. Renewal SA is reported to have engaged Jones Lang LaSalle to sell the land.

This has been greeted with much dismay by several local groups, such as the Port Adelaide branch of the National Trust, the state branch of the National Trust, the Semaphore and Port Adelaide RSL clubs, Port Adelaide Enfield council, Fort Glanville Historical Society, and the Say NO to Selling Fort Largs Facebook group, which has nearly 1,500 members. My questions to the minister are:

1. Does the state government intend to delist Fort Largs or its surrounds from the State Heritage Register?

2. Will the minister confirm whether the government has received any advice from the SA Heritage Council and, if not, will he seek advice before any decision is made on the future of Fort Largs?

3. Will the minister assure the South Australian public that Fort Largs as a state heritage-listed icon will not be sold to developers or allowed to be degraded?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:10): I thank the honourable member for his most important set of questions. He is quite right: a recent article in the Portside Messenger on 30 April stated that a Save Fort Largs group had been formed. I understand that this group was formed in response to fears that Fort Largs would be demolished by potential developers. I understand the Fort Largs Police Academy (which includes Fort Largs and rifled muzzle-loading and breech-loading guns) at Taperoo is entered into the South Australian Heritage Register as a state heritage place and currently in state government ownership.

Fort Largs was built in 1883 and is of state heritage significance because it was an integral part of South Australia's early defence planning. It is architecturally important because it represents the end of an era for coastal defence fortifications and probably an end to the Russian war. The integrity of Fort Largs may have been diminished due to constant upgrading and other alterations relating to its continuous role as a military or paramilitary complex over time; however, most of the building's 19th century fabric, I am told, remains intact.

Since the early 1960s, Fort Largs has been used by South Australia Police, until the recent construction and opening of the new Fort Largs Police Academy. Following the opening of the new academy, the state government resolved to sell Fort Largs, having determined that it was surplus to the government's requirements. Renewal SA recently called for expressions of interest for Fort Largs, I am advised. The state heritage listing does not prevent an owner of a property, whether in a—

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Well, it's not a public utility, Mr Lucas, but that shows your ignorance in these matters, I suppose. Renewal SA recently called for expressions of interest. The state heritage listing does not prevent an owner of a property, whether in a public or private ownership, selling that property at any time.

The Hon. R.I. Lucas interjecting:

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: Fort Largs is a state heritage place. Any development proposals of Fort Largs will be the subject of a development application to the relevant planning authority. Those applications must also be referred to me, in my capacity as minister responsible for the Heritage Places Act 1993, for advice as to any impact on the heritage values of Fort Largs.

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