by Shane Sody
“There are none so blind as those who will not see.” (John Heywood, 1546)
There is plenty of evidence about the importance of protecting mature trees, and any city’s tree canopy.
There is plenty of evidence that South Australians want to see their Adelaide Park Lands protected.
Signature list as at 22 April on the petition: “Protect Possum Park, Pete” https://www.change.org/p/protect-possum-park-pete
There is plenty of evidence that the international LIV Golf tour is financially unsustainable and on the brink of collapse.
Yet the Premier, Peter Malinauskas, and his Government are not persuaded. They are stumbling, head-long, into a fundamental mistake: falling for the lure of short-term financial gain from a single brief temporary event, to justify what would be wholesale destruction within Adelaide’s unique urban forest.
From Monday 27 April, State Government contractors have been authorised to move in and start fencing, then destroying what the Premier says would be 585 trees within Possum Park /Pirltawardli (Park 1 of your Adelaide Park Lands) i.e the urban forested golf course Park.
This Government plan, deposited with the Land Titles Office on 2 April 2026 details the extent of the State Government’s takeover, against the wishes of the Adelaide City Council.
See more detail and enlargements, in this PDF file, (8pp, 433 Kb)
Despite the advanced state of Government preparations, the Premier has been unwilling to share with you the details of which trees will be sacrificed, nor which areas of your Park Lands will be cleared, fenced, or built over to provide new car parks, commercial buildings, roads, storage sheds or other facilities reserved for paying customers.
No detail has been provided about the extent to which your Open, Green, Public Park Lands will be whittled away.
Once the takeover begins, on Monday 27 April, we will be relying on volunteers, members of the ‘Possum Park Protection Platoon’ to keep a watching brief on this Park, and video-record any tree losses.
