Adelaide Caravan Park Redevelopment Rejected

In December 2024 the Aspen Group, the owners of the Adelaide Caravan Park on Richmond Street Hackney lodged plans for a $70m complete redevelopment of the present site. The roughly triangular 1.4 hectare site is bounded by Richmond Street, Twelftree Reserve, the River Torrens and Old Mill Park Reserve.

The Aspen Group proposed: –

• Torrens Title Land Division creating 47 allotments
• three public roads with associated footpaths
• shared use pedestrian and bike path
• earthworks to stabilise the river bank..
• Construction of a six-storey mixed-use building comprising 78 serviced apartments (in the form of a residential flat building) across all six levels; -
• associated office and amenities at ground level; -
• a separate café tenancy at ground level –
• a basement car park and a ground level car park.
• Partial demolition of two Local Heritage Places and a change of use to detached dwellings.

While there is considerable potential for the redevelopment of the site to provide medium density dwellings, as allowed under the provisions of the Planning & Design Code and an approved site Concept Plan, the Association had serious concerns with what the Aspen Group was proposing.

When the application was put out for consultation in June last year the Association and a number of local residents made submissions expressing the concerns.

The Council Assessment Panel considered the application at a meeting in January where SPRA, and a number of local residents, made further verbal submissions to the Panel.

None of the Panel members supported the development and the application was refused Planning Consent. The reasons for the refusal included: -

• the six-storey building is inconsistent with the relevant height provisions for the Zone, is not low rise, and fails to complement the height of nearby buildings.
• the six-storey building is not compatible with the outcomes sought by the relevant Concept Plan for the site.
• the proposed residential density is too high compared to the low to medium densities sought in this Zone.
• insufficient car parking spaces are provided for the development.
• the six-storey building fails to complement the streetscape.
• the six-storey building fails to respond to the local context and therefore does not positively contribute to the character of the local area.
• the blank walling on levels 3 to 6 of the six-storey building result in a visual mass inconsistent with the outcome sought
• the side and rear setbacks provided for the six-storey building are insufficient and fail to achieve the outcomes sought

It is not known whether the Aspen Group will amend the plans, undertake a complete redesign, or lodge an appeal in the Environment, Resources & Development Court.