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Dave
There is no such thing as the Bonython Park Billabong. A billabong is an old part of a river that has been truncated by changes to river flow. The photo you cite as a billabong is actually the flowing River Torrens. There is a billabong at St Peters on the river and almost another one at Walkerville (OBahn construction infilled the crossing) and almost one next to Findon Rd. Of course you could say that Breakout Creek at Fulham was a billabong as it took overflow from the River when it backed up against high tides and sand dunes prior to extensive draining of the coastal wetlands.

You take a dangerous line when you talk developing the Parklands. Politically insane yet there are precedents for its occurrence, as you point out. It started with the Hyatt Hotel or whatever its called now built suspended over the Railway station so its not on the Parklands. Other development is institutional and that is accepted by all parties and legislation.

So that leaves the next two stunts concurrently attempted to be pulled by this "consultative" state government. The first is the RAH site and Minister Hill quietly gauged public reaction to selling or leasing the site to developers for housing as the cost of demolition was exorbitantly too high.We now have a design competition and everyone is seemingly happy about this as it invites intellectual capacity in a process rarely undertaken. The problem with the process is that all entries or intellectual property attached to each entry becomes the property of the state and they are not obliged to implement the winning entry or entries but can pick and cobble according to the wishes of whoever (think developer) is bankrolling the whole situation. It amounts to an attempt to generate and normalise privatised development in the parklands.
The second example of attack on the parklands comes in the form of the big park design concept for the Torrens between Bowden and Gilberton. Whatb is really going is on that the agreement between the State and the Casino allows for a massive increase in pokies, other operations and a new casino building (with a bridge directly from Adelaide Oval which the Casino refused to pay for or contribute to which only a rough concept has been publicly presented and then its location is not clear. The Riverbank precinct is a mess, the Festival Centre is dilapidated, the Rotunda and topography in Elder Park, as Adelaide's premium outdoor space, splits viewing and is a joke. Amidst all this is the Hyatt Plaza where the Casino has decided to build a hotel, at the immediate rear of Parliament House overt the Hyatt court and presumably over the parklands if that was somehow possible. The State Govt is attempting to camouflage this with the consultation, which if you go the Riverbank Park website, you will realise is a very bad joke.
I would like you interview the Friends of the Adelaide Parklands, National Trust, Conservation Council, the Greens, not the State opposition, not the Property Council to check out their perspectives on this massive fraud that is being perpetrated by this idiotic government. Bring on the election.
by alan. (score: 0|5) 3629 days ago
by Dave Walsh (score: 4), 3629 days ago
Hi Alan

Thanks for your detailed comments - it is good to see more interest in the what the government is attempting to do with our parklands.

In reference to the Bonython Park billabong, I point to some historical evidence in this report: http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/assets/acc/Environment/park-lands/docs/apl_3.1.26_pk_27_tulya_wodli_report_pt1.pdf

Moving on to your other comments, I fear that you may have misunderstood my own personal views - I haven't suggested anywhere that I support development in the parklands in any way. What I have tried to highlight is the "thin end of the wedge", the proposed commercialisation of the old RAH site being promoted by Renewal SA and former Integrated Design Commissioner Tim Horton.

In the article I also looked at other parts of the parklands and wondered cynically how the government might profit from them. However I was under the impression that former Health Minister Hill had publicly advocated returning the RAH site to parklands.

After personally expressing disappointment to Ian Gilfillan from the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association that there has been no public response to the proposal from APPA, I have still seen nothing.

I also queried the National Trust on their position, but it seems they are largely focused on dealing with funding cuts at the moment.

As a last resort I would have considered the Greens or Nick Xenophon, but when I tried to engage them previously on the demolition of the Jade Monkey building (Adelaide's first Balfour bakery), they were supremely uninterested. I did not think it worth bothering again.

Thanks
Dave