Newsletter - June 2024

This is the June 2024 newsletter for the St Peters Residents Association, representing the Residents of St Peters, College Park, Hackney, Stepney, Maylands, Evandale & Joslin.

The newsletter is available as a PDF for downloading and printing.

Contents

Items that we hope you will find of interest include: -

Town Hall Candidate Forum – Dunstan By-Election

Candidates will give their vision for the electorate, followed by questions from the audience.

A couple of days prior to the Dunstan By-election SPRA, in conjunction with the other local resident groups, hosted a Town Hall Candidates Forum in the St Peters Banquet Hall.

The forum was very successful as all six candidates attended, and it was standing room only for the estimated 150 or more attendees.

All candidates gave impressive addresses, and the many questions from the floor focussed on the issues of concern, and not personalities.

It is planned to hold a similar forum prior to next year’s Federal Election.

SPRA Annual General Meeting

The 2024 Annual General Meeting was held on March 20th prior to the Candidates Forum.

Retiring President David Cree gave a short report on the 2023 year and thanked the Committee, particularly Ralph Bleechmore, Denise Schumann and Meredith Kaesehagen who were not standing for re-election.

The following members were elected to the committee for the 2024 year.

President David Cree
Vice President Evonne Moore
Secretary Paul Ensor
Treasurer Anne Bowman
Committee Members Brenton Eden, John Hatch, Mathew Pole, Angus Redford, Joan Sedsman, Andrew Tarca & Lynton Viant.

There is one vacancy on the committee. Contact David Cree if interested.

St Peters Heroes Memorial WW2 Plaque Grant Application

The Association was recently advised that the application for a grant from the SA Government's Anzac Day Commemoration Fund for an additional bronze plaque on the St Peters Heroes War Memorial in St Peters Street has been successful.

The Grant of $8,265 includes the cost to extend the lighting to illuminate the rear face with the additional plaque.

The new plaque will list the names of local service personnel who died in the Second World War. Research is continuing, however to date 95 names have been identified.

This research has been made easier as the NPSP Cultural Heritage Centre holds in its collection the original WW2 St Peters Enlistment Roll that was displayed in the Town Hall foyer until it was removed in 1960s building renovations.

Plans are underway, in association with the Council, to unveil the names on Remembrance Day 2024.

The Association is wanting to hear from anyone who knows of any men or women from the former St Peters Council area (Hackney, College Park, St Peters, Stepney, Maylands, and Evandale) who died in WW2. The list of names can be seen on the SPRA website.

SPRA is also seeking any relatives of those named, so that they can be invited to the Remembrance Day dedication ceremony.

More details can be found on the St Peters Heroes Memorial WW2 Plaque Grant Application page.

2024-25 Council Budget

The Council agenda for Monday 1st July includes the adoption of the 2024-25 Annual Business Plan and Budget (pdf).

SPRA has significant concerns about the proposed 8.5% increase in rate revenue of and the future debt position of the Council. It would have been preferable to see Council spending reduced or deferred, rather than rate rises at more than double the rate of inflation.

The Association also has concerns about the almost tripling in the cost of the Payneham Memorial Swimming Pool redevelopment project ($60 million), and the resultant increase in Council debt for the next decade or more.

SPRA President David Cree addressed Council in April concerning the pool redevelopment and the concerns about it.

The Association has made a detailed submission during the budget consultation period.

Consultation: On-Street Parking Policy

On-street parking is a topic that can lead to animated discussion, as evidenced by the Council’s recent proposed removal of parking controls and residential permits on First Avenue, Second Avenue and Harrow Road.

NPSP Council is currently consulting on a proposed new 'Draft On-street Parking Policy'. The policy is important as it will set the guidelines for which users (e.g. residents, employees, etc.) are prioritised in different regions of the City and how parking controls are implemented.

SPRA has made a submission. You are urged to have a look at the proposals and to make your own comments to Council.

St Peters Billabong - Deputation to Council

For several years SPRA has had concerns about encroachments onto and the stability of the north-eastern bank of the billabong in the St Peters River Park. We are particularly concerned at the lack of any effective action by Council to address these concerns.

SPRA Committee member Mathew Pole addressed Council on this matter at the regular Council meeting on June 3rd, expressing concerns regarding the billabong, and encroachments onto the potentially unstable Council reserve riverbank.

The St Peters River Park, which includes the billabong, is the largest community reserve in the Council area, and is classified as Regional Open Space. The park is zoned as a part of the River Torrens Linear Park and is home to many species of flora and fauna.

You can read the contents of Mathew’s deputation and other matters relating to the billabong.

Councillor Kester Moorhouse raised questions about the billabong at the same Council meeting. The questions are part of the 3 June 2024 Agenda.

Urban Greening Strategy

Green Adelaide recently released for comment the "Urban Greening Strategy"

The Strategy document discusses Adelaide's tree canopy and green understorey. It covers the causes of tree and vegetation loss in recent decades (while omitting the role of governments) and provides options for improving this situation.

Issues relating to urban infill, human population growth, infrastructure installations, large houses on small blocks, climate change, Adelaide's woefully low percentage of public open space compared with most Australian cities and other pressures are canvassed.

Like most strategy documents, it contains a vision of a 2050 Utopia where all organisations will work together, and residents will tend their nature strips with loving care. There are some good ideas and suggestions on how to improve our greenery and trees and the precious urban wildlife they support, and options on how to measure any changes over time.

SPRA has made a submission on the Strategy.

Rainbow Lorikeet near Transport SA car park

Former Transport SA Carpark

As part of the response to the Greater Adelaide Regional Plan (GARP) Discussion Paper, SPRA raised concerns about the former, and now vacant, car park located off Holton Court, St Peters, being included in the areas to be investigated for possible Neighbourhood/Centre Infill. The proposal is that the site should be used for high-rise apartments.

This land was formerly used by the Department of Transport as a carpark for their offices across the River Torrens in Walkerville. Some years ago, the offices were converted into the Watson Apartments and the Walkerville Terrace Shopping Centre.

The Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council has approached the Government in the past with a view to adding this land to the open space next to the Torrens River. The triangular shaped vacant land is surrounded by the River Torrens on two sides, and the O’Bahn on the third. The area is rich in urban wildlife, including frequent sightings of koalas and birds.

SPRA is concerned that a large infill apartment complex on this sensitive riverine site has the potential to add a great deal of pollution to the river and to destroy the local environment and its wildlife. We also understand that the former Department of Transport car park is built on fill, due to the history of sand and gravel mining along the River Torrens, followed by use as a rubbish dump.

The recommendation of SPRA is that this land should be added to the Linear Park and made part of the Metropolitan Open Space System (MOSS) study area.

The advantages in having the land remain in public ownership and undeveloped are:

  • it prevents the inconsonance of having this island of land within the River Torrens Linear Park remain outside of the Linear Park.
  • it will add to the integrity of the River Torrens Linear Park by providing continuity to the parkland at this location.
  • the previous use of the land and its potential rehabilitation is an issue which would need to be resolved.

The Old Transport SA Car Park article on the SPRA website contains a history of Council decisions on the status of the site, including requests since 2006 that it be included in the River Torrens Linear Park. In 2010, staff provided a report to Council stating that site was previously owned by the East Torrens Municipal Destructor Trust and filled with local refuse and that it may be unstable due to the filled nature of the land.

Facebook Page

SPRA now has a Facebook page where some matters will be posted and where you can leave comments on items that have been posted.

Please follow on your Facebook app.