News & Discussion: Adelaide City Council

[jk1237]

I saw a statistic recently that Adelaide spends the least amount of money on cyclist infrastructure in comparison to every other capital in the country. Does anyone know if this is true?

True, however I think we spend the least amount on everything in comparison to the other capitals

[Wayno]

From the Advertiser, but still "News from the ACC"...

THE days of North Adelaide as a favoured and protected enclave could be numbered.

Interest groups in the south and centre of the city want the favoured treatment given to North Adelaide residents broken down. Thanks to a change in the structure of the Adelaide City Council at the last election, they say they have found a way to achieve it.

The return to the ward system has elected two councillors for each of the three areas – north, central and south – on top of the five councillors elected to perform a city-wide role.

Orthopedic surgeon and South Ward Councillor Michael Henningsen said the days of North Adelaide running the council were over and while it had been "amicable", "equity" had returned for other areas.

He said those seeking to correct the North Adelaide imbalance did not want to take anything away from the wealthy area but wanted other parts of the city to get their fair share.

Citing a need to "bring forward" city works in the CBD, Mr Henningsen says: "The last two councils were run from North Adelaide and that is a historical fact.

"There are a lot of people in the business areas – and the southern part of the city really felt disenfranchised. The reality is North Adelaide does not control the council any more."

Mr Henningsen said the imbalance in treatment dated back to an era when North Adelaide was a location for facilities such as Adelaide Oval and South Adelaide for low-cost housing.

"North Adelaide from the start of the colony was where the wealthy and elite lived and the streets are still full of doctors, lawyers and business leaders," he said.

"It is a very, very wealthy, moneyed, influential and intelligent place."

South Ward Councillor Joe Cullen says benefits for North Adelaide residents were largely historical, dating back more than 100 years, and while the new council had changed the political landscape, all involved were trying to avoid "ward wars".

Critics claim favoured treatment given to North Adelaide over south, east and western parks of the city has included:
* MORE road closures to protect residents from traffic.
* BETTER parklands facilities.
* MORE free parking.
* PROTECTION from traffic passing through residential streets.
* DOMINANCE on Adelaide City Council.

North Adelaide Society chairman Ed Briedis denies the area has undue influence.

Mr Briedis says residents there also welcomed the ward system because it gave them better access to locally based councillors.

He says Mr Henningsen and Mr Cullen have only been on council since last year and the perception by some that North Adelaide was favoured was wrong.

"Some of the things that have been discussed are pertinent to North Adelaide and we are entitled to make a noise and that's what gets the attention," he says.

Long-time North Adelaide advocate and city-wide Councillor Anne Moran says some of the "newies" elected to council last year had accepted an urban myth and the area had never been the "tail that wagged the dog".

"The south has been well represented and in terms of the budget we are pouring large amounts of money into the south-west probably to the expense of central Adelaide," she says.

"North Adelaide looks like it has a lot of money spent because it has tree-lined streets and wealthy housing but we have never asked for large amounts of money," she says.

Some CBD advocates are more diplomatic than others and cautious not to put their northern cousins offside, pointing to the struggles all city residents share.

They won't criticise North Adelaide, but do want what residents there have.

South-East City Residents Association chairwoman Anne Melrose says the ward system has given residents in the southeast "someone we can go to" and a voice they did not have under the previous council.

"We strongly supported the return to the ward system because residents in the south-east corner had very very little input intoa whole lot of things that were happening," she says. The southern area of the city should be looked at as similar to North Adelaide, not just as part of the CBD.

Central Ward Councillor Stephen Yarwood says North Adelaide has always benefited from being seen as mainly residential.

He says residents of central Adelaide have historically a lower expectation because they moved into a mixed-use community.

Mr Yarwood also says there has been a "tale of two cities" but that the ward system is bringing "greater equity" of representation.

"I would be fascinated if someone could do an analysis of where councillors were from, over different eras, because North Adelaide has mobilised its vote very effectively in recent times," he says.

"There is much more of a level playing field."

[Wayno]

Victoria Bridge Viewing Platforms up for approval

targeting completion by mid-2009
http://city-messenger.whereilive.com.au ... ep-closer/

A SHELTERED viewing platform over the River Torrens will be built on Victoria Bridge if a $1 million upgrade is approved this month.

The platform proposed for the eastern side of the bridge facing Elder Park would likely rival Montefiore Hill as the signature vantage point of the city.

City Council last week lodged an application for the works with its Development Assessment Panel.

If approved, the council hopes to start work on the platform first flagged by the City Messenger in February in the new year and expects the project will take up to five months.

Lord Mayor Michael Harbison said the bridge was already a popular vantage point but it was a “hostile environment” for anyone wanting to stop and admire the city and riverbank precinct.

“When you’re on the bridge looking east, you have the signature view of Adelaide, it’s absolutely stunning,” he said.

“The problem is, on a sunny day you’ll absolutely bake and if you’ve got children with you, you can’t relax for a second because you’ve got cars rushing past you.”

The three glass-bottomed and sheltered seating areas would be built as part of work to upgrade the bridge’s safety barriers.

The bridge underwent $500,000 worth of repairs in 2004. Mr Harbison said there were no structural problems with the bridge.

[Will]

I realise that the theme of my post is not exactly relevant to this thread, however I am posting it here because this appears to be the thread where the councillors of the ACC participate.

And my message is directed at them.

I recall reading a few months ago that certain ACC councillors were thinking of banning new night clubs outiside a 500m strip of Hindley Street and now following the shooting in Gouger Street over the weekend, I read in the Advertiser today .... "Mr Harbison said gun-wielding "gangsters" were making the city unsafe and their haunts must be shut down immediately." but also " POLICE Minister Michael Wright has questioned why nightclubs are operating in the Gouger St precinct".

I am shocked that those in charge of the city think that by shutting down night clubs they will solve the problem. Shutting down nightlife in the city will not solve gun crime or binge drinking. What it will do is ruin all the hard work that has taken place in the last few years to help lose the "boring, dull, nursing home" reputation. If the ACC thinks that a 500m stretch of Hindley Street is sufficient to contain the night life of a city of over 1 million people then it shows how out of touch they are. I would expect a large country town to have such a pathetic night life. A city the size of Adelaide requires more than a 500m strip of night life. If this involves spreading the number of clubs to zones which in the past used to be 'family friendly' then so be it. We cannot stagnate this city. As the city population grows it is obvious that the need for expanded night life will also occur. I call upon the ACC to drop any suggestion of closing down night life outside a 500m strip of Hindley Street. Such a move is a throwback to the 1920s. It will solve nothing. Why should the young people of this state be punished for the actions of a very few? The majority of people who go out at night do so to have a good time. Please do not force us to go to Melbourne to have a good time!

The solution is to increase police numbers at night and to place less emphasis on the human rights of criminals and more emphasis on their punishment! However this costs money, and I suspect this is why those in charge are looking at the 'cheap' alternative of closing venues instead of dealing with the real problem.

[PlanThis]

one of the best ways to improve safety at night is to encourage people to be out - having eyes on the street
the safer places are those with lots of people present

[cruel_world00]

It made me so angry reading Wright's response to this issue. How ****ing stupid is our government?!?!?

[SRW]

The solution is to increase police numbers at night and to place less emphasis on the human rights of criminals and more emphasis on their punishment! However this costs money, and I suspect this is why those in charge are looking at the 'cheap' alternative of closing venues instead of dealing with the real problem.

But a punitive system is the cheap or easy alternative to a system geared towards prevention. Being 'tough on crime' in the retributive sense can only go so far in reducing crime and may in fact even ingrain the problem; preventing it through rehabilitation and the targeting of social inequities is where the greatest impact can be made. (As an aside, however, I commenced reading Freakonomics today and it made the interesting suggestion that legalised abortion is the biggest contributor to crime reduction!)

I do agree, though, with some of the things you wrote in the rest of your post. The idea of limiting the city's nightlife to the vicinity of a single strip is ludicrous (indeed, it should be being encouraged to expand). The comments by the police minister further enhance the impression of the police force as reluctant to actually police the streets (I'm remembering back to the equally ludicrous proposed bar lockout/curfew). But I'm not entirely opposed (nor supportive) to venues that severely and negatively impact on public safety having their licenses revoked, which is what I hope Harbo was getting at.

[monotonehell]

The solution is to increase police numbers at night and to place less emphasis on the human rights of criminals and more emphasis on their punishment! However this costs money, and I suspect this is why those in charge are looking at the 'cheap' alternative of closing venues instead of dealing with the real problem.

But a punitive system is the cheap or easy alternative to a system geared towards prevention. Being 'tough on crime' in the retributive sense can only go so far in reducing crime and may in fact even ingrain the problem; ...

In fact, being tough on crime usually just forces it to become more organised and go further underground. You need to be smart and attack the reasons the crime is being committed as well as the causes.

Being "Tough on crime" is like trying to stop the water spilling over the top of a water tank during a rain storm by tightening the tap with a spanner.

[rogue]

So are the government and Lord Mayor suggesting its ok to get shot in Hindley St, just not Gouger St?

[crawf]

Well after yesterdays shocking attack on the Parade... Crime can happen anywhere.

Though I am pretty shock that there has been another shooting on Gouger Street, maybe it might be a very good idea of shutting down that Esobar especially that alot of the trouble is happening around that place.

Please do not force us to go to Melbourne to have a good time!

Yeah and get locked out after 2am

Really I hope Adelaide doesn't follow Melbourne with the 2am lockout.

[rev]

Nonesense, shutting down venues is not the answer. They have shut down quite a few clubs already, has that solved anything? Organised crime just moves on to the next venue.

There is one simple and easy solution to all this, bring in laws that will allow the Police to arrest and lock up members of bikie gangs and other organised crime groups permanently.
When people see it's not worth being locked up for the rest of your life just to make a quick buck that you will lose when the cops catch up with you, there won't be any incentive for people to join.
With bikers behind bars, where will these little shit gangs which are responsible for most of these shootings lately, score their meth, guns and other drugs? They'll go back to being the old kiddy gangs running around vandalising property and selling stolen phones and getting into fights that make them look more like a bunch of p***ies then anything else.
Give the cops the power to raid each and every single biker gang members house, club room, their associates, their families. their friends, the friends & associates of their family and associates etc(actually I'm pretty sure they can but are a bit restricted- What I'm saying is a full blown assault on organised crime no holding back), the power to lock these people up PERMANENTLY for the rest of their natural lives, and in a few short years the problem will be miniscual to what it is now, if not eradicated. Not just ordinary police, send the bloody STAR group in assault rifles and all kicking in doors.

But such action will never be taken because rights activists and other bleeding heart morons will go on a riot and the media will print their stories, and the government will back off to end the bad publicity they will receive.

Well after yesterdays shocking attack on the Parade... Crime can happen anywhere.

Could give you many examples to prove this from long ago.

Though I am pretty shock that there has been another shooting on Gouger Street

Why? It was bound to happen again, and will likely happen as many times as its happened already, again.

Really I hope Adelaide doesn't follow Melbourne with the 2am lockout.

Aww come on, think about it, it will coincide with a 12 am or 2am shut down of the Rundle Lantern. Great promotion for our city. WE SHUT AT 2AM! LIGHTS TOO!

[Clr Yarwood]

Sorry I have been silent, I have been on holidays undertaking research in Melbourne – interesting stuff and ironic under the circumstances though I did not hit the clubs as I was with daughter and pregnant wife - yep, another Yarwood on the way!

I do not support limiting venues to Hindley Street, but believe we should focus the 3am to 7 am activity preferably in one area.

The rest of the city should be alive until 3am – more people make the streets safer.

[monotonehell]

I do not support limiting venues to Hindley Street, but believe we should focus the 3am to 7 am activity preferably in one area.

You'll need to qualify that with a reason. I don't see any reason why this should be so. We've never had night clubs in just one place before. There's been and still are nightclubs in Gouger street, Light Square, Hindley Street (East and West), Rundle street.

I can see the police management's possible reasoning, they only need to pay the cost of patrols in the one area, but that's a poor idea that just pushes the bad element elsewhere.

(Congrat's on the baby BTW)

[Wayno]

NOTES__FROM_COUNCILLOR_Issue_15.pdf

(75.94 KiB) Downloaded 155 times

Clr Plumridge's latest newsletter, includes:
* climate change - real or not? people are getting bored with the whole concept
* Groove in the Park - an all-day music festival on Sunday 19 April 2009
* Whitmore Square will be used for the Cycling SA racing series on Sunday 26 October 2008
* Rundle Park will host a Latin/Brazilian Festival on Saturday 24 January 2009
* Urban forest development in the parklands. The ACC will take over control of the former SA Water depot in the western Park Lands after decontamination of the site and a grant of $800k for development. This is the fulfilment of a promise made by the Rann Government
* Central markets open on wednesdays
* and much much more

[monotonehell]

I wonder what Cnr. Master P uses to make his PDFs as my browser never recognises them as a PDF. Also the text kerning is a mess. ;D