News & Discussion: Adelaide City Council

[iTouch]

agreed, water the damn lawns!

+1
and you wonder why people want to develop on the parklands. It's because they misinterpret some spots for unused dirt.

[david]

Just for the record, Botanic Park (home of Womadelaide) is under the care and control of the State Government, whereas most of the Park Lands generally are the responsibility of the Adelaide City Council.

Do Park Lands all have to be lush green to be valuable open space - I think not!

In fact the Glenelg Recycled water comes at a high cost which Council has to pay to SA Water so 'lush green' may not be an option that we can justify. There is also some concern about the impact of saline, nutrient-rich water on the long-term health of some tree species, especially the exotics.

Very few things are as straight forward as they may seem!

David.
(Re-elected Councillor)

[SRW]

David, the parklands do not have to been green to be valuable, but it does go a way to improving their usability and amenity. Though you're right that even recycled water has a cost and should be used wisely.

I suppose this is another reason why a master plan for the Park Lands is so important -- and I've just noticed that the release of council's TCL-prepared draft plan was last week. It's here for anyone interested; I'm still looking over it myself.

(Oh, congratulations on your re-election David!)

[Waewick]

your right they don't have to been green to be valuable but they have to be green to be utilised for their purpose, otherwise re=plan native grasses and undergrowth and encourage native flora and fauna back into the area.

[david]

Councillor David Plumridge's Notes - Issue 60

These are my Notes from the first meeting of the new Counciland they will be my last issue until I resume again at the end of january 2011. My thanks to all who have supported me in 2010 and good wishes to all S-A members for a Happy Christmas.

These Notes include;
- National Urban Policy Discussion Paper
- Cities - Who Decides? (Grattan Institute Parer)
- Adelaide Central Market review
- Smoke-Free Outdoor Eating and Drinking Areas
- Recent DAP decisions
Last Night's Council decisions and key appointments.


David Plumridge
Deputy Lord Mayor

Notes from Councillor Issue 60.pdf

(144.35 KiB) Downloaded 163 times

[SRW]

David, thank you for your regular posts this year -- I'm sure we all look forward to more in 2011 -- and congratulations on being elected Deputy Lord Mayor.

I'm also pleased to learn of your motion to transform Bank Street into a shared zone. I feel this is something the council should be exploring in other areas too, but in particular Gawler Place between Grenfell and the Mall.

[Wayno]

thanks David.

[SRW]

Revamp planned for lane off North Terrace
ABC News Online, 7 December 2010

Adelaide City Council is making plans to turn a run-down city lane into an entertainment precinct.

It wants to model Bank Street, which runs between North Terrace with Hindley Street, on the success of nearby Leigh Street, which includes a mix of eateries and shops.

Deputy Lord Mayor David Plumridge said work was still about a year off.

"A major planning process to go through the Riverbank masterplan and that will address the riverfront itself and linkages back to the city and that will include Bank Street, so until that plan has been looked at and decided on and consulted on we really can't move on Bank Street," he said.

[AG]

Bringing Bank Street up to standard would be a good start. It would be great if the other streets linking the river area and the Central Market were revamped as well to improve the pedestrian linkages north-south across the western side of the CBD (Bank Street, Leigh Street, Topham Mall, Bentham Street and Pitt Street). That would help in contributing to more street level activity in a part of the city quieter than its eastern counterparts in the CBD.

[Vee]

Thanks, David for keeping us informed.

I am so looking forward to Adelaide (& SA) following the lead taken by the ACT on smoke-free outdoor eating and drinking areas.
It is unhealthy, annoying as well as very unfair on would-be alfresco diners that they cannot enjoy a relaxing (and smoke-free) dining experience in outdoor dining areas and public footpaths, adjacent cafes and other eateries.

We (non-smokers) have no choice but to eat indoors or take the risk of taking a table outside and having our dining spoilt as some smokers sit down nearby and light up, oblivious/ignorant or uncaring as to the impact of their smoke on fellow diners. Or bypass the opportunity altogether!!!

[SRW]

Adelaide City Council a 'progressive body', says Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood
Maria Moscaritolo, The Advertiser, 7 December 2010
LORD Mayor Stephen Yarwood wants to reassure businesses that the newly-elected city council is a progressive body.

Mr Yarwood said if Adelaide is to compete globally it has to position itself as a niche "smart city" which brings together its strengths in the arts, education and information economy.

While former councils have been tainted as anti-development, he would be happy to see more residential development and even some iconic buildings of "40 or 50 storeys".

"Ultimately we have a progressive council that wants to get outcomes," he says.

"I think this council should be pro quality and integrated design. This council is not anti-development; there is no-one on this council that is anti-development ... tell me a great city in the world that hasn't embraced its heritage as a strategic economic asset and then built great buildings in and around it."

While he did not commit to cutting much-hated red tape for small business, he said he wants to change Adelaide City Council culture to be more customer and outcome focussed.

He is enthusiastic about creating more outdoor dining, and clearing some of the regulatory hurdles that prevent restaurants and cafes from expanding their footprint.

"One of my really strong pushes is going to be turning (restrictions) around so council is actually asking small businesses to have outdoor dining rather than making it difficult," he says.

As part of this, he wants to develop a strategy to bring together traders on each main street - such as Hindley, Gouger and Hutt streets - under one banner to ensure appealing street fronts and encourage united marketing.

"We are competing against Westfield, and they have a single point of contact for marketing, for actually running the centre, and then you go down a main street and it's a bunch of small businesses operating totally in isolation with no single point of contact for maintaining the street, for marketing, for ensuring the buildings are up to scratch, for determining the appropriate mix of land use," he says.

"They're the sorts of things that a strategic co-ordination role focussing on the streets will ensure they can punch above their weight."

While some of these aims will give traders assurance, the question in the business community's mind is how he hopes to achieve any of his stated aims (given the Mayor only gets a vote in a deadlock). Also how "friendly" to business and development will this new council be?

BusinessSA says the council needs to use its term to prove its worth.

Chief executive Peter Vaughan said candidates had been "disarmingly candid" during the recent local government elections about previous councils' failures. If the new councillors do not do help advance the city, the State Government should finally "turf them out".

"We've now come to the acid test because - unless this council performs in the next (three) years, we will deliver critical harm to the future of South Australia because we will not be able to catch up on what should have been done in the past 15 years," he said.

"If we're going to be welcoming of tourists and festival goers...we need a vibrant, elegant, go-ahead city, not a city characterised by tumbleweeds."

Mr Yarwood said while he did not exert direct power, he would exercise "leadership and influence" to bring councillors with him.

He has experienced a "tremendous amount of goodwill and strong support" from the councillors, and says they appear to be on board with key redevelopments such as Adelaide Oval and the riverbank precinct, he says.

He believes he has general backing for his ideas and his vision to make Adelaide's CBD more technology friendly.

He campaigned on city-wide free wireless internet connection and argues this - and the expansion of outdoor dining - is a key plank in creating a more dynamic and attractive CBD environment.

It would also help market the city globally, he said.

"If we've got international students sitting outside during summer in an outdoor dining culture accessing free wi-fi and blogging, tweeting and facebooking about how awesome that moment in their life is, that goes viral across the planet and that's the sort of stuff that I think we really need to be thinking strategically about."

[mattblack]

As part of this, he wants to develop a strategy to bring together traders on each main street - such as Hindley, Gouger and Hutt streets - under one banner to ensure appealing street fronts and encourage united marketing.

"We are competing against Westfield, and they have a single point of contact for marketing, for actually running the centre, and then you go down a main street and it's a bunch of small businesses operating totally in isolation with no single point of contact for maintaining the street, for marketing, for ensuring the buildings are up to scratch, for determining the appropriate mix of land use," he says.

"They're the sorts of things that a strategic co-ordination role focussing on the streets will ensure they can punch above their weight."

This is a great direction for a coordinated approach to development and retail success. The council should also look at putting the Market Arcade, Plaza and the Central Markets under one umbrella which it currently is not. Perfect opportunity to do this with the Central Markets undergoing public submissions regarding thier future.

[SRW]

I agree it's a good idea, although I'm a little confused as to how it relates to existing precinct groups. Is the Lord Mayor talking about building these groups into management authorities à la Rundle Mall, or he is aiming to establish new, separate boards?

In any event, the council would do well to better define and emphasise the city's precincts. One of the city's advantages vis-à-vis the suburbs is its number of unique and characterful destinations, and it it should be marketed as such -- a 'City of Precincts', if you will.

[Omicron]

Revamp planned for lane off North Terrace
ABC News Online, 7 December 2010

Adelaide City Council is making plans to turn a run-down city lane into an entertainment precinct.

It wants to model Bank Street, which runs between North Terrace with Hindley Street, on the success of nearby Leigh Street, which includes a mix of eateries and shops.

Deputy Lord Mayor David Plumridge said work was still about a year off.

"A major planning process to go through the Riverbank masterplan and that will address the riverfront itself and linkages back to the city and that will include Bank Street, so until that plan has been looked at and decided on and consulted on we really can't move on Bank Street," he said.

Marvellous news!

[iTouch]

awesome. I love Bank St, after a gig at the cavern club we always go around the corner there for Pizza