by Shane Sody
The State Government has been challenged to bring forward its proposed restoration of your Park Lands near the old Adelaide Gaol.
The Adelaide Park Lands Association has welcomed an announcement by Health Minister Chris Picton that fences around parts of the old Gaol and Kate Cocks Park should be removed, and the Park landscaped.
However Mr Picton has not explained why the State Government for years has maintained this barbed-wire fence around this area of the Park Lands.
It appears that this part of your Adelaide Park Lands is being held hostage!
Nearby, the City Council also has fenced off and poorly managed the adjacent Kate Cocks Park. You deserve better. Kate Cocks deserves better.
Health Minister Chris Picton says the Government is proposing to make 30,000 square metres of Kate Cocks Park ‘publicly accessible’ but only when or if a new Women's and Children's Hospital is built on Park 27, by 2031. Why is it inaccessible now? Why is it fenced off?
Mr Picton says fenced-off and degraded parts of the Park Lands should be transformed into open, green space for families to use and enjoy, removing fences and significantly increasing the availability of Park Lands.
Adelaide Park Lands Association President Shane Sody says “we wholeheartedly agree and we are glad to now have State Government support for one of our 'Restore' campaigns.”
“Therefore our challenge to Mr Picton and the State Government is a simple one. If the Government wants to make Park Lands accessible then do it now. Don't make the SA public wait another nine years to tear down the Government’s fences, or continue to wait for the restoration of Kate Cocks Park, that's been part of the State Government-endorsed Park Lands Management Strategy since 2016.
“If the Government fails to act immediately on this pledge, they will be effectively holding your Park Lands hostage to their development plans. They must restore Park Lands, tear down the fences that make this Park inaccessible, and THEN consider, as a separate question, where a new Hospital should be built.
“The Government is trying to claim that building a proposed eight-storey hospital car park on Kate Cocks Park would restore Park Lands. However what will restore Park Lands is immediate action to tear down existing fences and landscaping of degraded areas. Kate Cocks deserves better.”
BACKGROUND
In January 2022, the former Liberal State Government re-zoned much of Kate Cocks Park as 'Health' - allowing construction of a multi-storey car park and destruction of some of the ancient olive trees.
Planning SA zone changes to Park 27, that came into effect in January 2022.
Kate Cocks deserves to be honoured with a substantial Park re-greening and landscaping project.
Read more about Kate Cocks (full name: Fanny Kate Boadicea Cocks) here: https://indaily.com.au/news/local/2017/05/05/time-and-place-the-remarkable-career-of-sas-first-female-officer/
or here: https://adelaidia.history.sa.gov.au/people/kate-cocks-mbe
The sorry state of ADELAIDE’S Parks named for women
There are six Parks within your Adelaide Park Lands that are named for distinguished South Australian women.
Five of the six have been subject to attacks, to reduce their availability as Open Green Public spaces.
Gladys Elphick Park /Narnungga (Park 25) has had large areas covered with bitumen for car parking, and other parts fenced by the SA Cricket Association to keep out the public.
Josie Agius Park / Wikaparntu Wirra (Park 22) has had a large area cordoned off to become a makeshift area for collecting rapid antigen test kits.
Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2) is the site of the Aquatic Centre, and the new State Government is considering building a new Aquatic Centre in the same park, which would involve clearing more native vegetation and increasing car parking spaces.
Helen Mayo Park in Park 27 has been re-zoned as "Entertainment". It was the proposed site for the former State Government's proposed 'Riverbank Arena'. The new Labor State Government has promised to restore its Park Lands zoning but that has not yet occurred, so the Park is still at risk.
Frome Park / Nellie Raminyemmerin Park (Park 11) is destined for total destruction to make way for a third wing of the Botanic High School off Frome Road.
Mary Lee Park (Park 27B) off Park Terrace opposite Bowden is the only park named for a distinguished South Australian woman that has not suffered a recent attack.
Victoria Park/ Pakapakanthi (Park 16) is also named after a woman - Queen Victoria. A large portion has been fenced off for more than two years for COVID-19 testing and later this year will be off-limit for months, as the Adelaide 500 motor racing carnival returns.
