Now with Beer Garden for our smoking patrons.http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 01,00.htmlNo to parklands prize
GREG KELTON, STATE POLITICAL REPORTER
April 24, 2007 03:50pm
CALLS for a $1 million international competition to redevelop Adelaide's parklands have been rejected by Lord Mayor Michael Harbison.
"We don't need a cupboard full of more plans for the parklands," he said.
"At the direction of the Liberal government in 1998 the council did prepare a parklands management strategy."
Mr Harbison was commenting on a proposal by former Opposition leader Iain Evans for a $1 million international competition to come up with a plan which would help turn the parklands into "a people's park".
The Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association is set to consider a competition to draw up a master plan for the parklands.
Association president Jim Daly said there had been four or five different plans developed for the parklands over the years and there was a requirement to have a community land management plan for each section of the parklands.
"The problem is all the plans you put into place can be abrogated by politicians coming in at the last minute and saying `our projects a special one and we'll overrule the master plan'," he said.
"I think the idea of $1 million is staggering.
"The question is that the master plan has to be cemented into an area of our constitution or something that can't be broken because Victoria Park has a community land management plan which was completely set to one side so they could build that monstrosity in the parklands."
Mr Daly said while he thought a master plan for the parklands was "terrific", it had to have agreement from both sides of politics because the Liberals as well as Labor had abrogated the parklands.
Mr Evans' plan would take on elements of famous parks around the world - such as New York's Central Park. "Adelaide should lift its eyes to the world and hold an international competition to transform the parklands to an international tourism asset based on them being one of the world's great people's parks," he writes in a column for The Advertiser today.
He proposes a prize of up to $1 million to attract world interest in developing a master plan for the parklands. "The Adelaide parklands are an opportunity waiting to happen," he says.
Mr Evans says he envisages the parklands becoming like New York's Central Park or Hyde Park and St James' Park in London. "Some areas would need hard infrastructure like the Clipsal 500 and horse racing while other areas could be family based recreation with adult and child playgrounds, mazes and picnic areas," he says.
He said yesterday he had been prompted to propose the idea after receiving a letter from an architect about parklands redevelopment. Mr Evans said any proposed changes in the parklands always caused controversy.
"Not only would a major prize attract quality international entrants, it would help put Adelaide into international focus and it would lift the city's world profile," Mr Evans writes in his column.
"The most recent proposals for development in the parklands at Victoria Park highlight the need for a master plan."
Planning Institute of Australia SA branch president Gary Mavrinac said anything which spruced up ideas about how the parklands should be used was a good idea.
"But we would not support something which would lead to over-development of the parklands," he said,
Mr Mavrinac said areas such as Central Park and London's parks were well utilised, whereas areas such as the West Parklands, were not.
"But it is not a matter of turning our parklands into theme parks," he said.
Environment Minister Gail Gago said the parklands were already people parks.
"There is no need to spend $1 million of taxpayers' money for a competition for planners and architects when the Adelaide Parklands Authority is developing a management strategy," she said.
Here is one comment ...
I lol'ed
A quick look in my street directory shows me the follownig developments already sitting in the parklands, starting at Fitzroy Terrace and working clockwise: Adelaide aquatic centre, horse agistment area, Prince alfred college sports grounds, Uni of Adelaide sports grounds, Botanic park & Garden, Wine centre, Zoo, River Torrens Linear Park, Rundle & Rymil park (with the pond and some playgrounds), Christian Brothers College ovals, Victoria park racecourse (reversable clipsal race track), a couple of croquet and tennis clubs/courts, Himeji gardens, Veale gardens, west terrace cemetary, Adelaide High school & oval, ANI oval, railway yards, Adelaide Gaol, Golf course, and we are back were we started. So it seems to me that there's already a massive amount of facilities in the parklands already, perhaps they just need revitalisation or better marketing to draw more people in? I'm a bit bemused as to what he wants to see there? Does he expect a city of one million people to draw the same numbers of people to the parklands every weekend as a high density city of 20 million like London and New York? About the only thing that comes to my mind is some restaurants and cafes along the Torrens between the Festival Theatre and Frome Road, as that area is already quite nice, but there isn't much to draw people into the area at night. I'm happy to take $1 million dollars for this idea.
Posted by: paulm of adelaide 3:17pm today