Newsletter - February 2022
MEET THE CANDIDATES.
The Resident Associations of the Dunstan Electorate are jointly hosting a Meet the Candidates event in early March.
The candidates standing for election in this electorate have been invited to outline their vision for our area, and state what they see as the vital issues.
This is our chance to find out what those who aspire to represent us stand for. There will also be an opportunity to ask the candidates questions to help inform our decision on polling day.
Where: Banquet Hall, St Peters Town Hall Complex, 101 Payneham Road, St Peters
When : Wednesday, 9th March, 7.30pm
Note: Due to Covid restrictions bookings are essential.
Email: norwoodresassoc@gmail.com if you wish to attend.
NPSP COUNCIL CAPITAL BUDGET
The NPSP Council has recently adopted the budget the 2022 year, which included several additional capital expenditure items relating to the area.
St. Peters Street
A major upgrade of this road will shortly commence as a contractor has now been engaged for the work. This project includes replanting the central median, wider footpaths, new tree planting and better accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians. The project has an estimated cost is $4.5 million with the Federal Government contributing $1.27 million and the State Government $200,000. Preliminary work by SA Water to replace aging cast-iron pipes in now underway.
Burchell Reserve
Detailed design work for the long-awaited upgrade of Burchell Reserve has now begun. New community tennis courts, seating, shelter, toilets, and landscaping will improve this reserve. This project will be delivered over two financial years at an estimated cost of $2.6 million.
Dunstan Adventure Playground
A much-needed upgrade of this highly valued playground will occur over the next 2 financial years. The estimated cost of $1 million has been supported by a $450,000 grant from the State Government's Open Spaces and Places for People program. Design work is being done this financial year with work hopefully beginning in the next year. A park open day was held late last year to hear community views on the upgrade.
NEW DEVELOPMENT
Despite the high value our community places on retaining our leafy suburbs, we are seeing a net loss of trees and vegetation due to infill housing along with the erection of large dwellings with high site coverage and concrete paving. This is detracting from the character and amenity of our garden suburbs, leading to increased summer heating. Why people choose to buy into a leafy suburb full of historic houses and then proceed to demolish stone houses and rip out trees in order to build McMansions largely surrounded by concrete remains a puzzle.
The recent mass bulldozing of solid attractive bungalows with gardens is to be deplored. One hotspot for infill housing is Stephen Terrace near the intersections with Eighth and Ninth Avenues. Bland grey infill housing with minimal landscaping has been the result.
A property in Seventh Avenue St. Peters recently sold for close to a million dollars. The solid beautiful stone house on this site was bull-dozed. Once the high value of a property protected it from demolition, but this is no longer the case.
NEW PLANNING SYSTEM
A new Planning System was introduced in March 2021 under the Planning Development and Infrastructure Act. Councils and residents have less say about new development under the new Planning and Design Code than they did under the former system where Council Development Plans provided guidelines for assessing new development. The Code has delivered a huge loss of detailed policy to guide the assessment process, leading to more opportunities for poor development.
Another major concern is the increased complexity of the new system wherein Council planners, and the Council Assessment Panel must assess new development proposals against 5,000 pages of documentation compared with the 250 pages of our Council's former Development Plan. The on-line planning system is also difficult to navigate. Conflicting provisions to guide new development has caused frustration to applicants. So far, the new planning system has shown that it is much less transparent than the previous system. These features of the new system make a mockery of the claim which heralded its introduction that it would be “simpler”. Even the development lobby has voiced concerns that the new system is complicated, takes longer and costs more.
Developers can apply for spot rezoning when they purchase a prized piece of land. This is leading to fresh battles with local residents across Adelaide. A new Regional Plan for Greater Adelaide is still to be developed (the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide provides no guidance to where and what new development can occur).
A few improvements to the Planning and Design Code were made early this year. These included the re-introduction of Contributory Items (now referred to as “Representative Buildings”) in Historic Conservation Zones. Community groups and our council battled hard for two years to ensure this outcome. Another improvement was the introduction of the “Established Neighbourhood Zone” (instead of the “Suburban Neighbourhood Zone”) to large parts of our council area to better cater for the assessment of development proposals in historic and character areas.
REVIEW OF HERITAGE
Council has decided it will review heritage protection in our council area. This followed a community outcry at the proposed demolition of two fine stone houses in William Street Norwood.
Other recent demolitions which aroused public concern were the destruction of an outstanding Tudor mansion in Trinity Gardens, the removal of a large red brick gentlemen's bungalow on the corner of Portrush Road and Magill Road Maylands by State Transport authorities and another felled on the corner of Loch Street and Payneham Road Stepney.
2022 – 2027 DRAFT TREE STRATEGY COMMUNITY CONSULTATION
The City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters has released its draft Tree Strategy for Community Consultation.
The draft Tree Strategy has been developed to guide the management, forward planning, planting and maintenance of all trees and in particular street trees, within the City. The overarching vision of the Strategy is to create a greener, cooler and more liveable City to enhance Community Well-being.
The Council has committed to increasing the City’s tree canopy by 20% during the next 20 years and has promised to plant at least 500 trees per year over the next four years
Residents are encouraged to review the draft Tree Strategy at www.npsp.sa.gov.au/consultation and to submit comments by Friday 4 March 2022. You can also contact the Council’s Strategic Planner, Nicole Rolfe nrolfe@npsp.sa.gov.au or 8366 4550.
40km/hr IN RESIDENTIAL STREETS
Following Council's introduction of 40 km/hr limits in the residential streets of Maylands, Evandale and Stepney in 2019, residents in the Norwood-Kensington area have now been consulted on the possible introduction of 40 km/hr in their residential streets. Most of the residents support this move. This proposal is now being assessed by State Transport bureaucrats and it will go to Council for a final decision in early 2022. The next suburbs to be examined for possible introduction of reduced speeds in residential streets will be Hackney, College Park, St. Peters and Joslin.
A group of First Avenue residents is currently circulating a petition to Council regarding the problems of “rat-running” through the Avenues and is advocating for a 40km/hr speed limit. For more information on this, please contact the Convenors at avenues.traffic@gmail.com or phone Andrew on 0400 300 020.
PAYNEHAM RD SERVICE STATION REDEVELOPMENT.
An application was recently approved for the $4.6m redevelopment of the petrol station on the corner of Harrow and Payneham Roads St Peters. Demolition is now underway.
This development involves the construction of a new 2-storey building with petrol filling points, an enlarged canopy. It will also house a retail/convenience store and a 24-hour fast-food facility and restaurant.
This development was opposed by a number of residents on the grounds of the areas zoning, traffic generation, odours from the restaurant and the general late-night noise and other nuisances caused by such facilities.