by Shane Sody
The State Government is basking in favourable publicity after the opening, last weekend, of the new Adelaide Aquatic Centre in Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2 of your Adelaide Park Lands).
However there has been no recent publicity about the loss of hundreds of trees, sacrificed in this Park, or the State Government’s obstinate refusal, in 2023, to consider any alternative brownfield site.
The Adelaide Park Lands Association campaigned relentlessly for more than two years, in FAVOUR of a new Aquatic Centre, as we recognised the immense potential to reclaim more than three hectares of your Open Green Public Park Lands.
If the community-backed view had prevailed, then you would now be seeing a new Aquatic Centre opening, on a landscaped, re-greened brownfield site (such as the former West End Brewery at Thebarton).
That would have been a win-win; allowing for BOTH a brand new Aquatic Centre AND getting the benefit of RESTORING three hectares of your Open, Green Public Park Lands site that had been lost decades ago, to the former Aquatic Centre.
This was what the Government could and should have chosen to do, while building a new Aquatic Centre on a site that needed re-generation, and that might have better served by public transport
But the State Government ignored more than 8,000 signatures on a petition, and went ahead with the unnecessary Park Lands destruction.
In doing so, the State Government broke four of its own 2022 promises.
First, it broke a promise to consult you on the proposed location. You were TOLD (not consulted) that your Park Lands would be taken.
Second, it broke a promise to protect and restore Adelaide’s tree canopy. To use this site, Government contractors destroyed dozens of mature trees, that were providing habitat for possums, koalas, and many bird species.
Third, from August 2024, it broke a promise to keep the old centre operating while the new centre was being built; and
Fourth, it broke a promise that the new centre would be smaller than the old one to return land to your Park Lands. Astoundingly, Government Ministers are still repeating this wild claim, when it’s obvious that the huge fenced area and massive expanded car park have reduced the remaining area of Open Green Public Park Lands in Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2).
Of course an outdoor pool has to be fenced, but that’s not “returning” Open, Green, Public Park Lands.
The choice of this site in your Park Lands was criticised in 2023 partly because it was not convenient for public transport. The location of the new Aquatic Centre means most visitors will choose to arrive in their own car.
The vastly expanded car park (450 spaces compared to the 280) proved to be insufficient on Saturday 31 January, with an estimated 600 vehicles spilling out from the paved car park onto pedestrian/ cycling paths, and taking over what remained of nearby Open, Public space.
Although the new Aquatic Centre is now open for business there is still massive landscaping work required on both the north and south sides of the complex.
