The State Government is consulting on its proposed MotoGP circuit in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi — including permanent construction and the removal of more than 400 trees.
Submissions close 11.59 pm, Sunday 20 September.
We’ve put together a simple guide on how to make a submission, what you might raise, and a template to help you get started.
Find out how to have your say.
The Adelaide Park Lands aren’t just green space – they’re a vital part of how students, workers and recreational cyclists get around our city.
Kadaltilla / Adelaide Park Lands Authority says the Park Lands provide around 59 kilometres of continuous walking and cycling paths, connecting major precincts through routes including the Adelaide Park Lands Trail and River Torrens Linear Park.
And there’s an economic benefit too. Walking and cycling in the Park Lands generates an estimated $196 million in annual economic value, through direct health, transport and environmental benefits.
As Bike Adelaide Chair David Elliott writes, safe, connected Park Lands paths are critical to cycling in Adelaide – and to keeping our city moving.
It took a Federal Court case to find out what the State Government is actually planning for John E. Brown Park.
A two-storey driving range, 108 car parks, up to 400 metres of netting, an 18-hole mini-golf course, retail facilities, new roads, water tanks and other infrastructure — all on public Park Lands.
These are significant changes, yet despite repeated questions, the community has had no meaningful opportunity to see or comment on the plans.
Why did it take a court case for South Australians to find out what is being proposed for their Park Lands?
“MotoGP has not raced on a street circuit since 1982, and the reason for that was that riders kept dying.” As Adelaide plans to bring MotoGP back onto city streets, safety concerns could have profound consequences for the surrounding Park Lands.
The State Government is consulting on its proposed MotoGP circuit in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi — including permanent construction and the removal of more than 400 trees.
Submissions close 11.59 pm, Sunday 20 September.
We’ve put together a simple guide on how to make a submission, what you might raise, and a template to help you get started.
Find out how to have your say.
The Adelaide Park Lands aren’t just green space – they’re a vital part of how students, workers and recreational cyclists get around our city.
Kadaltilla / Adelaide Park Lands Authority says the Park Lands provide around 59 kilometres of continuous walking and cycling paths, connecting major precincts through routes including the Adelaide Park Lands Trail and River Torrens Linear Park.
And there’s an economic benefit too. Walking and cycling in the Park Lands generates an estimated $196 million in annual economic value, through direct health, transport and environmental benefits.
As Bike Adelaide Chair David Elliott writes, safe, connected Park Lands paths are critical to cycling in Adelaide – and to keeping our city moving.
It took a Federal Court case to find out what the State Government is actually planning for John E. Brown Park.
A two-storey driving range, 108 car parks, up to 400 metres of netting, an 18-hole mini-golf course, retail facilities, new roads, water tanks and other infrastructure — all on public Park Lands.
These are significant changes, yet despite repeated questions, the community has had no meaningful opportunity to see or comment on the plans.
Why did it take a court case for South Australians to find out what is being proposed for their Park Lands?
For almost a decade, Trees for Life’s Regenerate program has been bringing people together in the Adelaide Park Lands through Bushcare, nature, culture and connection.
We talk with Tricia Curtis about how caring for nature can also mean caring for ourselves—and why the Park Lands are such an important place for community wellbeing.
For more than 25 years, local photographer Jeff Richards has been capturing the Adelaide Park Lands — from the grand trees and wetlands of Pakapakanthi / Victoria Park to quiet trails, waterways and the changing play of light across the landscape.
Jeff kindly allowed the Adelaide Park Lands Association to use one of his beautiful images for our recent Stop the Chop campaign banner.
In our latest profile, Jeff shares what draws him to the Park Lands, how literature, light and colour influence his photography, and some great advice for budding photographers — including his most important tip: “Go out there and shoot!”
Read Jeff’s story and see the Park Lands through his lens.
by Renate Homburg
The machines came in the night
stealthy, slinking, stinking
reeking of destruction and corruption
manned by greedy, crooked men
Creatures of the peaceful forest
awoken soft and stark from slumber
grabbed, struggling, blinking
into unforgiving daylight
Old homes viciously torn down
pulverised, vandalised
gentle beings roughly displaced
brutal disregard for their lives
With dollar signs in their eyes
heartless humans distract and destroy
no reverence for beauty,
for sanctuary, sentience, sacredness
Ploughing with violent hands
transforming majesty into dirt
ears shut to the pleas of the Earth
to the cries of animals who have lost
their homes, their hollows, their havens
now adrift in a sea of confusion
scattered and terrified
in this sacrilegious new world
Yet WE hear you, precious souls
we cannot ignore terrorism
against the innocent, the irreplaceable
our hearts break but not in vain
We will speak for you with
compassion, determination, indignation
standing for justice, for life
your small faces bright in our minds
Dwelling in embracing green
free from desecration and condemnation
sheltered, cherished, nurtured
this is what you truly deserve
In Renate’s words –
I have always enjoyed expressing my thoughts and ideas through poetry and frequently write about animal and nature protection, which are the issues closest to my heart. I am Adelaide born and bred but have travelled widely and now appreciate our beautiful city even more. The magnificent trees and wildlife of our Park Lands are sacred, and must be valued and protected.
Apart from writing and advocacy, I am also training to be a psychotherapist.
Make a submission for our “Park Poetry” series. Contact Deb Stewart: poetryintheparklands@gmail.com
CONTENTS
1. Editorial: From the President: The Movement to Stop the Chop Is Growing
2. Members are Ready for Battle: Park Lands Association Forum
3. Park Poetry - Flying foxes (Fruit Bats)
4. Pic of the Month – Dr Bird Nerd
5. Charles Sturt and Prospect Council Join the Campaign for Your Lands
6. The Pen Is Mightier than! 28,000 signatures and counting
7. The First Hints of Spring: Guided Walk Through Red Gum Park / Karra Wirra
8. OPINION: Time to Debunk Some Misinformation
9. SE City Residents Raise Concerns About Proposed MotoGP in the Park Lands
10. The Mosquito vs the Elephant: Save Festival Plaza Update
Dr Doug McEvoy AM has warned that the proposed MotoGP in the Adelaide Park Lands would come at a significant cost to the community and the environment.
Speaking at a community rally at Victoria Park/Pakapakanthi on behalf of the South East City Residents Association (SECRA), Dr McEvoy said the proposal was "the wrong project, in the wrong place, pushed through in the wrong way."
He outlined the impacts on community sport, recreation, biodiversity and public access, warning that large areas of the park could be fenced off for months each year to accommodate both the V8 Grand Final and MotoGP.
"A MotoGP track does not belong in the Adelaide Park Lands," he said. "An alternative site must be found."
Take a break and savour the changing seasons with the Adelaide Park Lands Association! Join an expert guide on a two-hour journey through one of Adelaide’s most historically rich urban parklands.
Nestled along the River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri), Karra Wirra holds deep significance as a Kaurna gathering and fishing spot, a source of stone for early colonial architecture, and a living museum of monuments, public art, and historical curiosities, from war memorials to a mid-century snake park.
by Jules Leigh Koch
after a day of hanging upside down
the bats leave Botanic Park
fully mobilised and self fueled
their colony of 20,000 plus
swarm into the evening sky
like an inland Tsunami
endless wing formations
are patterned overhead
their road rage chatter echoes out
deterring birds of prey
as they fly along
the Torrens Valley
looking for pollen
and native fig trees
while others find only
power lines and barbed wire
their journey ends
where it started
upside down and always
before daybreak
Jules Leigh Koch is an award-winning Adelaide poet and the author of five poetry collections. He has been a recipient of two South Australian Literature grants. He was a guest reader at Adelaide Writers’ Festival in March 2017 and has been a judge for three biennial John Bray Festival Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Make a submission for our “Park Poetry” series. Contact Deb Stewart: poetryintheparklands@gmail.com
Adelaide City Councillor Patrick Maher has taken a forensic look at claims circulating from the page formerly endorsed by SA Labor—and says the facts tell a very different story.
His conclusion? The State is spending $45 million of public money on a project that:
reduces public access to the golf course,
has no publicly released economic analysis,
no publicly released market demand analysis,
no public project plan, and
lacks the required heritage, Aboriginal and environmental impact considerations.
All of this, he argues, is being justified by hosting an event that is now effectively defunct.
Read Patrick's full analysis below.
Growing concern about Adelaide's Park Lands is spreading beyond the city.
The City of Charles Sturt unanimously resolved to write to Premier Peter Malinauskas seeking urgent information about the redevelopment of the North Adelaide Public Golf Course and proposed works in John E. Brown Park.
Councillors highlighted the importance of the Park Lands for recreation, biodiversity, tree canopy and urban cooling, and called for greater transparency regarding potential impacts on public green space.
The unanimous motion reflects a growing view that Adelaide's Park Lands belong to all South Australians and that decisions affecting them deserve proper information, consultation and public scrutiny.
The campaign to protect Adelaide's heritage Park Lands has reached a major milestone, securing 13,500 physical signatures. This achievement officially triggers the 10,000-signature threshold required to prompt a Parliamentary Committee inquiry in the Legislative Council.
Spurred by growing community concern over state-backed development projects on public green spaces, the grassroots movement relies entirely on paper petitions distributed by volunteers across South Australia.
"This is bigger than any one person; this is a movement," said City Councillor Keiran Snape. "The fight for our Park Lands isn't a local, city-centric issue, it is a South Australian-wide demand for transparency."
With over two weeks remaining before the petition closes, organisers have set a new stretch target of 18,000 signatures to further strengthen the call for an independent parliamentary inquiry.
By Mij Tanith
The Hon Reverent Dr Lynn Arnold AO is a man of great compassion. After a fifteen-year career as a Labor MP, including eleven as a member of Cabinet and a brief stint as Premier, he held senior leadership roles in World Vision [1997-2007] and Anglicare SA [2008-2012]. In recent years he has chaired a number of community organisations in the fields of social justice, reconciliation and sustainable development, and is currently serving as an assistant priest at the St Peter’s Anglican Cathedral.
He has also recently been appointed Patron of the Adelaide Park Lands Association. This is a timely role for Dr Arnold, as it will bring together his years of experience, his pursuit of social justice, and his belief in maintaining of our unique parklands as pubic space for the enjoyment of all.
“Our Park Lands must not be seen as a land bank by this or any other government,” he says. “We are unique, we are famous throughout the world in having our city surrounded by green space – public green space. And we need the overlay of World Heritage status to protect this space for future generations.”
Asked what advice he would give to Peter Malinauskas in the current stand-off between the government and the people of Adelaide, Dr Arnold makes a number of pertinent points.
“Firstly,” he says, “the lack of transparency, and the argument that plans for development of areas of Park Lands are ‘Commercial in Confidence’ has led to a smell of corruption. One example is the building of a 39-storey tower block on the Festival Plaza, with the Walker Corporation paying just one dollar a year in rent for this public space. Secondly,” he continues, “surely the Premier, like every political leader, wants to be remembered for the good he has done for his constituents, and for the environment. Right now, his legacy looks to be quite toxic. His vision of turning Adelaide into the motor sport capital of Australia is not shared by the people. His plans to sell off sections of the Park Lands for commercial development, and his extreme incapacity to listen to any opposing views, pose a genuine threat to democracy.”
And so, is the “Stop the Chop” campaign winnable? “Winning or losing,” says Dr Arnold, “Is perhaps not the question. There’s a concept,” he says, “called Hopeful Pessimism. Basically, it is the idea that, when it comes to activism, you don’t necessarily need to believe you can win. The chances of success might look small, but you can still hope for positive change. The more intractable Malinauskas is in his pursuit of elite sport and commercial development of our Park Lands, the more he refuses to listen to our concerns, the stronger the opposition will become. And so, as this movement continues to grow, if we keep up the pressure on the government, if we refuse to give up, or feel defeated by apparent lack of success, then it is entirely possible that what may look like an unwinnable campaign can suddenly be won.”
Our new patron, then, is not just a figurehead. He is a man of ideas, of passionate conviction, a man who is already fighting for the preservation of public access to all of our Parklands.
The concept of Hopeful Pessimism is explored in a book of the same name by Mara van der Lugt.
by Geoff Goodfellow
Photo by Emma Docherty
Geoff Goodfellow, aka ‘The People’s Poet’ has been writing and publishing poetry for over 42 years. He has often been referred to as an Activist Poet, having been the poet-in-residence to the now CFMEU and also in the same role at Yatala labour Prison. He has published 12 books of poetry, 2 text books, a boyhood memoir and a verse novella. His most recent book ‘Nostalgic Adelaide: poems political, social & cultural’ was launched during the 2026 SA History Festival by former South Australian Premier & Arts Minister, Mike Rann.
It’s mid-May in Adelaide
& my apricot tree is beginning
to shed its leaves
while in the Adelaide Hills
autumn leaves glow with colour
& in the North Adelaide parklands
possums scurry & birds flee in fright
as the roar of heavy machinery
& chainsaws echo & reverberate
while trees fall . . .
in the wake of Mali’s ratings.
See more Adelaide Park Lands poetry here: https://www.adelaide-parklands.asn.au/park-poetry and send contributions to our Park Lands poetry editor Deb Stewart at poetryintheparklands@gmail.com
