While I am raising the issue of the Greater Adelaide Plan today in other blogs I find others are contributing as well.
The following is a copy of an editorial in The Advertiser today.
The Advertiser
City plan vital as
population pressure rises
ADELAIDE’S urban form has been in a state of constant change since settlement.
The central business district has gone from being an agricultural and industrial hub to a precinct of commercial and residential focus as populations shift, technology evolves and demographics change.
It is a myth to assume Adelaide can be frozen in form for perpetuity. Like it or not, about 560,000 extra people will live in South Australia over the next three decades. The logical move is to develop a plan to deal with the pressure that growth will create.
The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide is not perfect, but is a great starting point for the task ahead. Rather than allowing further sprawl or ad hoc development, it allocates growth where it can best be managed.
It views the city as the hub of future Adelaide and targets transport routes for dense pockets of housing.
It is predictable that the North Adelaide Society would raise concerns about how the plan affects its back yard. The hesitancy has been echoed by a flood of letters from people worried about the future. Change can be frightening, particularly for those who are comfortable and enjoy their lifestyle.
If the Government is to be taken at its word, it understands the value of what North Adelaide has. Planning Minister John Rau has stated in these pages that there will be a balanced approach.
He has also argued that higher density does not mean high rise. North Adelaide and parts of the inner suburbs like Mile End, Unley and Goodwood are already medium density and offer pleasant, compact living.
No one wants to see the great mansions that front the Parklands and North Adelaide’s back streets harmed. To this stage, no one is overtly suggesting that is likely. In fact, it has been all but conclusively ruled out. But balance also requires an understanding of what life is like for others and consideration of their interests.
Many of the 560,000 new arrivals will be condemned to an expensive and isolated life on the fringes unless we prepare for their arrival. They have to be housed somewhere and the city will make sense for many.
If North Adelaide, but more particularly the CBD, are not rezoned, the state will condemn itself to mediocrity. The capital city of an increasingly confident state would be sparse, under-utilised, unwelcoming and bland. It is in everyone’s interest that the best of what we have is conserved but that we look positively to the future.
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