Nick Champion today launched the Gawler Rivers Cycling and Walking Project, together with Gawler’s Deputy Mayor Brian Thom.

The project has been years in the planning but the Town of Gawler Grader is finally in action.  When the project is finished there will be over 8km of walking and cycling paths from Dead Man’s Pass on the South Para, through to the River Junction and up to Clonlea Park on the North Para.  The project envisages returning the rivers to a central and deserved part of the Town’s life and character.

Many thanks to all the council committee and staff for their hard work and for GEHA and Adrian Shackley for lobbying so hard for so long.

Concerned Gawler Residents

The Greens are concerned that FOI requests by Greens MP, Mark Parnell surrounding the Gawler East DPA and the Gawler Racecourse DPA have been met with refusals from the State Government.

Here are some residents’ responses regarding DPA processes and lack of information:

Paul Koch, Urban Growth Boundary Forum Committee, blog at http://blogawler.wordpress.com

Craig Pengelley Bentley Road Action Group

Dr Helen Wilmore Cheek Avenue Residents Group

Irene Hartwich Bentley Rd Action Group

Roseworthy Farmland

The Government’s 30 year plan, as it relates to Gawler, Concordia and Roseworthy is misleading and internally inconsistent.

While the overall plan promises to create 1 job for every 1.99 new people who arrive across greater Adelaide, this is not true for the Barossa region where there are only 38,500 new jobs targeted for a population increase of 110,000 – that’s only 1 new job for every 2.86 new people.  The figure of 38,500 new jobs was also the figure in the draft plan before population increases in the Barossa were revised down and the numbers transferred to Playford/ Elizabeth.  The government needs to provide information on why the jobs figure has not gone down .

All this is likely to mean that thousands of new residents will be unable to find employment in the region.  Mike Rann’s promise in the plan that, “we will reduce over-reliance on motor vehicles” is not likely to be met by the strategy of increasing the population in the Barossa region.

The Plan’s growth map for the Barossa contains specific areas in Roseworthy marked as having ‘high environmental significance,’ however, the government has failed to include any acknowledgment of the many kilometres of roadside and rail corridor vegetation in the area- both of which are more diverse in terms of the number of species than the sites identified on the map.

The government’s map also places a “Roseworthy South”  railway station in the middle of conservation-rated Eucalyptus largiflorens woodland and Themeda triandra grasslands.  This would indicate that specific principles in the 30 year plan which require biodiversity be considered in land-use decisions and the unambiguous mapping of key environmental assets have not been adhered to.

Although potential areas of” primary production significance” have been marked on parts of the plan, the Plan’s Barossa map is misleading because it fails to show that the future urban growth areas of Roseworthy and Concordia are themselves  areas of “primary production significance”.  The government must acknowledge that highly productive primary production land will be consumed by houses and a debate needs to take place on whether or not that is desirable.

Open space between northern Gawler and Roseworthy residential areas (shown in the draft 30 year plan at a rather measly 800 metres wide) has disappeared in the final version with no explanation.  Apparently the green buffer promised for Gawler on page 4 of the plan has now been reduced to the road verge.   With no open space between Gawler/ Hewett and the Roseworthy development, and minimal open space between Gawler and Concordia,  retention of what the Minister calls “the ambience and charm of rural centres” seems unlikely in a combined Gawler/Roseworthy city of 100,000+ people.

Gawler’s Mayor Brian Sambell has slammed the government’s 30 year plan for Greater Adelaide.

“For Gawler, this is a plan for urban sprawl and traffic chaos”, said Mayor Sambell.

“The plan is very disappointing given the clear community message that was delivered to the State Government”

Mayor Sambell said, “The urban mass around Gawler, which will become Adelaide’s northern city, will allow the population to increase by over 500% and a 16 kilometre stretch from north to south”

“The 30 Year Plan makes it look like Gawler and Roseworthy will not be connected but this is a misrepresentation and ignores the area is already used for residential, education and industry purposes”.

Mayor Sambell has pointed out “The Draft Plan had specific proposals for higher density along rail corridors, provision for road transport infrastructure, and green spaces, including between Gawler and Roseworthy. These have disappeared”

“Improved public transport is good, but it will not replace car use in a regional city. There will be at least 38,000 new households in and around new Gawler City. This is more than 300,000 extra vehicle movements each day. Unlike some other parts of the Plan for Adelaide, no transport plan is provided.”

Greens MLC and Planning Lawyer Mark Parnell has also said that “the release of the final version of the 30 year Plan for Greater Adelaide under the cover of the Southern Expressway announcement is a strong pointer to the lack of consultation and backward thinking in the document”.

“For a document that is supposed to be the key driver of development changes in Adelaide over the next three decades, the lack of public input is a disgrace,” said Mr Parnell.

“The Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to publish the public submissions, they refuse to release key background documents asked for by the planning industry, and now they release the final version of the Plan under the cover of today’s Southern Expressway announcement,” he said.

The draft 30 year Plan, released in July, attracted controversy for the over-inflated population targets far above ABS projections. These remain in the final version.

The Plan reinforces that less than a quarter of new dwellings (60,000 of 258,000) will be built in Transit Orientated Developments (TODs). Instead, 48% of all new houses (124,000) are planned for the urban fringe. The much vaunted 70:30 split between infill and urban fringe development will only be achieved ‘in the last years of the Plan period’.

“The simple fact remains this Plan will guarantee an increase in Adelaide’s urban sprawl. Half of all new houses are planned for the urban edges,” said Mr Parnell.

Another major concern is that three of the major areas regarded as ‘urban expansion priorities’: Buckland Park, Roseworthy and Mt Barker are associated with the planning consultants given the job by the Government to identify future housing land.

“Big questions about conflict of interest remain. The question the Greens continue to ask is: in whose interest has this Plan been developed – big developers or the community?”

Dear Madam

Your editorial of February 10 regarding the Buckland Park development rightly points out that questions need to be asked regarding health facilities and transport availability, but the need for scrutiny is far broader than those two issues.  The Planning Institute of Australia (SA), the peak professional body for town planners in the country, has come out and said that the Buckland Park approval has left it with a feeling of ‘bewilderment’ and that the ‘remote Buckland Park is not an appropriate place for a development of this scale’.

The Buckland Park Environmental Impact Assessment itself raised many causes for concern about the proposal including flood risk from the Gawler River or tidal surges – which will require significant infill to increase elevation; a shallow and saline watertable; the presence of acid sulphate soils which may be disturbed; the need to protect residents from ‘mosquito incursions’; proximity to sensitive coastal habitats;  and that residential development is proposed within 30% of land which contains remnant vegetation.

The strong condemnation of the project by professional planners must lead us to question whether or not the process for approval is sufficiently vigorous and whether more than lip service is being paid to creating truly sustainable communities.

Penny Johnston

PIA quotes are from their press release on 4/2/10

In 2010, the international year of Biodiversity, we will probably hear more than usual about habitat destruction and the impact that population growth has on the ability of a wide range of plants and animals to survive.

For humans in this area, our current habitat affords us the food, water, shelter and space we need to survive, but as the State Government pushes ahead with population increases and moves urban growth boundaries outward, the things we humans rely on from our own habitat are threatened.

In Gawler, increasing traffic is spilling over onto backstreets and causing residents to think of moving. Talk of by-passes and connector roads is causing stress to people who chose their current location precisely because it afforded peace and quiet.

We’re all leaving home earlier in the mornings because it takes much longer to get to school, or to the train or through the town to work.

The Australian museum has recently said “The greatest threat to biodiversity is the size and rate of growth of human population.”[i] Serious questions also need to be asked whether the size and rate of population growth in this area is not only a threat to our plants and animals but a threat to the lives of the existing human population.  Where will we grow our food?  Where is the water coming from?  How can our children safely cross the street?  

As our local grasslands are subsumed by houses, rare birds like the diamond firetail finch and brown tree-creeper face losing their habitat.

Perhaps the planners in Adelaide don’t realise how we value living in the relative serenity of the area, that farmers enjoy spotting the sand goannas, echidnas, and wrens?

How is the State government going to achieve its own State Strategic Plan goals of “lose no species” and “improve the quality of life of all South Australians” if it fails to assess the impact of its current population push on biodiversity and the well being of existing residents?

Greens candidate for Light, Penny Johnston has called on the State Government to immediately scrap the Gawler East Development Plan Amendment.  Ms Johnston said, “the Government has had more than enough time to consider the hundreds of public submissions made to it last July and should reject the DPA now.”

“The Planning Minister has had 6 months to consider those submissions. The public has known all along that the DPA is insupportable.  Minister Holloway needs to reject the DPA now rather than wait until closer to the election or after the election to make that announcement.”

“This whole process began way back in July 2007 when extensions to the Urban Growth Boundary were first announced without any detailed planning justification.  The subsequent DPA was also marred by poor planning and inadequate consideration of infrastructure problems – particularly the traffic implications” said Ms Johnston

“The proposal to rezone the land for three to five storey housing is farcical and is causing many residents a lot of stress and unhappiness. They are in limbo as they wait to find out if their homes and lives will be affected by massive increases in traffic and noise.  I know people who are waiting to see if they should sell their homes.  People don’t want issues that affect their health and happiness turned into political footballs” said Ms Johnston.

“The length of time that has now elapsed can only indicate that the Government has finally realized how silly the DPA actually is. I call on the Minister to alleviate our ‘Development Plan Anguish’ now” said Ms Johnston.

The calm before the storm – Murray Street early morning

Balloons are out

Light Entertainment

Murray Street starts to fill

Lined up ready to race!

And they’re off

In a hurry already

Some Lyndoch Rd colour

Rural flavour meets Green and Gold

Penny J

Two elected members of local councils have announced their intentions to run as  candidates for the Greens in the State Election in March.

Penny Johnston,Town of Gawler Councillor and Jane Alcorn, elected member of Light Regional Council, will contest the election for the Greens.  Penny Johnston will run in the electorate of Light and Jane Alcorn in Stuart.

“The word ‘sustainability’ is used a lot by the Rann Government but when you look at the impact of their decisions locally the well-being of future generations of residents is being compromised,” said Ms Johnston. “Urban development is being given the go-ahead without an assessment of the adequacy of infrastructure or employment opportunities, public transport is inadequate or non-existent, highly productive cropping land is being turned into houses.”

“ People are saying, ‘Hang on a minute, you haven’t consulted us, you haven’t thought about the real cost to everyone’s quality of life of this rapid expansion, let’s just think about the implications a bit more”

Ms Alcorn said the complete lack of public transport was a major issue for residents in areas such as Kapunda. “If you don’t have a car you simply cannot access lots of government services or the end of the train line.”  “Water security and preparing for climate change are also major areas of concern” said Ms Alcorn. “We need to ask how people in rural areas are going to survive increasing temperatures and water shortages– it’s about both physical and economic survival”

“Rezoning primary-industry land for residential purposes is short-sighted because South Australia has a limited supply of arable land” said Ms Alcorn

Contact Candidates

Penny Johnston  0437 239 727

Jane Alcorn 0419 799 538

Saints Peter and Paul Church

St George's Church Oleana Square Church Hill

There are also numerous villas and cottages in Church Hill – the villas are the larger homes!

Tortolla House - Definitely a villa!