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.
For 16-year-old Sophie, the Adelaide Park Lands are more than a park — they’re her backyard, her running track and part of her home.
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.
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
If you Love your Park Lands you can't help but acknowledge and respect this land's traditional custodians; the Kaurna people who cared for the land for many thousands of years before European settlers arrived here in the 1830s.
APA joined with the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation on Sunday 3 July to get a Kaurna perspective on your Park Lands, from elder Rod O'Brien.
For the second time in two years, a South Australian Olympic hero is spearheading a campaign on behalf of a Park that bears her name.
Denise Norton who fought to save Denise Norton Park from the Adelaide Crows, is now campaigning to get Denise Norton Park restored as Open Green Public space. She's called for a new Aquatic Centre to be constructed on a nearby brownfield site.
The State Government is preparing to abandon a pre-election commitment to protect Adelaide's significant trees, with a proposed wholesale slaughter of mature trees in the Adelaide Park Lands.
To save dozens of trees, take our 1-minute survey, to suggest an alternative location for the proposed new Aquatic Centre:
Despite declaring a "climate emergency" only weeks ago the State Government has shown it’s still captured by the anachronism of combustion engine motor racing, at the expense of your Open Green Public Park Lands.
Your taxes will be subsidising a four-day festival of carbon emissions each year until December 2026, and paving over even more of your Park Lands.
An Adelaide Park Lands zookeeper, who’s been raising funds for a Ukrainian animal shelter, has had some star power behind her cause.
Canadian actress Karin Konoval, who played ‘Maurice the Orangutan’ in the Planet of the Apes movies, has been regularly contributing to the fundraiser. As previously reported, Jodie Sheridan, the orangutan project lead at Adelaide Zoo in Park 11, has been campaigning on the sanctuary’s behalf after striking up an online friendship with its founder.
The State Government's threats to dozens of trees in your Adelaide Park Lands is making headlines around Australia.
A battle is brewing between the State Government, seeking to chop down trees for a new $82 million aquatic centre, and Park Lands lovers seeking a win-win, with a new centre on a nearby brownfields site.
Adelaide has been dubbed ‘the murder capital of Australia’, thanks to a few notorious crimes. So, it’s fitting that the city is home to several ‘dark history’ walks and ghost tours.
As winter sets in, we thought it a good time to check out one such tour – at the West Terrace Cemetery in GS Kingston Park / Wirrarninthi (Park 23).
The City Council is in the process of installing new shared-use cycling and pedestrian paths along the edge of South Terrace, in Carriageway Park / Tuthangga (Park 17) and in Peppermint Park / Wita Wirra (Park 18).
However not everyone believes this is an optimum solution for either cyclists or pedestrians. APA's Peter Lumb puts the case for better, separated bike lanes, including in these two locations.
The State Government is prepared to invest $80 million to build a new regional Aquatic Centre for Adelaide's central and inner-northern suburbs.
The Government is pretending to ask the community about locations for the new centre. However its sham "consultation" does not envisage any site other than on your Open Green Public Park Lands.
A city residents group is applying for funding to plant more trees in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16) .
The plantings would provide much-needed shade around the Park's playing fields and beside the "green corridor" that connects Halifax Street in the city to Fullarton Road and Grant Avenue in Rose Park.
Adelaide Himeji Garden is one of the most photographed spots in Your Park Lands. In April, the traditional Japanese garden - in Peppermint Park / Wita Wirra (Park 18) - turned the big 4-0.
To celebrate, we chatted to Nicole Lionnet, APA’s Park Ambassador for Parks 18 and 19, about how best to capture the photogenic spot.
The start of winter has provided lovely weather for ducks in Adelaide. And the city’s parks haven’t missed out on a soaking.
Parts of the southern Park Lands were underwater on Monday after the CBD copped 43mm of rain – around 60 per cent of the average June rainfall. Elsewhere, the new $13 million, 3.2ha wetlands in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16) were also put to the test.
