The Community Alliance SA is calling for an immediate halt to planning changes based on the 30 Year Plan because the community has lost all faith in the present process. The Alliance represents around 30 resident and community organisations disillusioned with the planning process and the State Government continuing to announce plans for growth and Development Plan Amendments (DPAs) without any meaningful community engagement.

“The community has lost all faith in decisions and directives made by the Minister based on the 30 Year Plan and we are calling for a immediate moratorium on all approvals for these DPAs, to allow a process to be put in place that will bring all the parties to the table and to find a better way to approach planning in this State” said Dr Wilmore.

The Friends of the University of Adelaide Library invite you to an event with Chris Daniels on Thursday 15 August 2013, at 6.00pm for 6.30pm in the Ira Raymond Exhibition Room, Barr Smith Library, University of Adelaide.

Professor Chris Daniels will examine the environment (climate, geography, biodiversity) and lifestyle enjoyed by Adelaideans. He will highlight the environmental conditions that can impact our community, such as drought, fire and food security, and discuss how, and to what extent, we can sustainably manage continued population growth.

The Women's Centre at Stepney has been nominated for the State Heritage List. If successful, this would give this historic cottage and the work of generations of women in it protection from future destruction. It was only a few years back when our Council voted to knock the Women's Centre down. Thankfully this decision was reversed after a huge community back-lash. Submissions on this nomination can be made to the State Heritage Committee up until 30th of October.

Our Council's Strategic Planning and Development Policy Committee has approved new planning rules to govern future development in Norwood and Kent Town. At a meeting on 22 July the Committee voted in these changes. Six councillors were absent from the meeting, which is surprising, given the extent of the planning changes proposed.

Our Council has now sent a letter to everyone who made a submission to the Residential Development (Zones and Policy Areas) Development Plan Amendment advising that a public information session will be held at 7pm on Monday 23rd of September in the Norwood Concert Hall.

Our Association does not know what changes to the proposed zoning changes Council staff have prepared for Council's consideration. We urge concerned residents to keep in touch with their local councillors to seek any information you can obtain. Council planning staff Carlos Buzzetti (telephone 8366 4562) and Eleanor Walters (telephone 8366 4521) are available to advise residents generally on the draft DPA and the processes leading up to the Council's final decision.

Planning Minister John Rau has announced that an online survey is currently being conducted to provide initial public input on the Government’s Integrated Transport and Land Use Strategy, a draft of which will be released for broader consultation in September. The online survey asks South Australians to consider issues of sustainability, liveability and prosperity in regard to a range of transport and land use issues, and includes discussion of public transport, pedestrian movements and land use planning.

Jessica Irvine is right when she blames the high price of housing in Australia on the rising cost of land in our cities ("How NIMBY protests put homes out of reach" Sunday Mail 9/6/13). But she is wrong to attribute this relative scarcity of urban land to selfish surbanites unwilling to sell off their back-gardens to developers of multi-storey flats. The real culprit is the policies of State governments across Australia restricting the release of new suburban allotments due to their belief in urban consolidation. In the USA where State governments do not restrict the supply of land for new housing, houses are much cheaper than in Australia. It is not the people who already own houses stopping others have access to them Jessica, it is State government policies.

Why is there such strong community resistance to proposals for higher density housing in Adelaide’s suburbs? Australian social planner and ethicist, Dr. Wendy Sarkissian argues that we need a “more sensitive and emotionally intelligent” approach to city planning. This is a summary of her presentation on Wednesday 29th May. The presentation is available online.

Evonne, the SPRA spokeswoman, did ask Wendy how would she suggest that 10-storey flats proposed to be introduced into the inner suburbs close to single-storey residential areas be designed well and sensitively. There was a long silence before Wendy spoke. She said there needs to be guidelines and criteria to protect neighbourhoods in terms of ovderlooking, traffic etc. There are several volumes of guidelines for buildings on Wendy’s Website. You should not debate individual sites, she said, you need general criteria.

"In view of the State Labor government forcing councils to allow controversial multi-storey flats to be built all over Adelaide, we are bringing Miles Lewis over from Melbourne to speak with Adelaide residents on this issue," said Stephen Fisher, President of Save Our Suburbs - Adelaide.

"Miles is the author of "Suburban Backlash: Battle for the World's Most Liveable City" and "Two Hundred Years of Concrete in Australia". He is a long-term critic of the sort of haphazard housing densification which Adelaide is suffering from.

"Save Our Suburbs invites residents, councillors, the press and everyone concerned about the future of residential development in Adelaide to come along at 8.00 pm on Wednesday 19th of June next to the Don Pyatt Hall in the Norwood Town Hall complex, 175 The Parade, Norwood (entrance off George Street) to hear Miles and to talk with him," he added.

On Monday night 29th of April a forum on planning issues was held in the Norwood Town Hall. Sponsored by Community Alliance, residents from across Adelaide heard politicians, planners and conservationists talk about their vision for Adelaide and problems with the current planning system.

Speakers included Nick Xenophon federal MP, Vicky Chapman Liberal Party spokeswoman on planning, Mark Parnell Greens Party MLC and John Rau Minister for Planning. Nick Xenophon said new housing development should be focussed on the City Centre square mile, not on the inner suburbs. Vicky Chapman acknowledged that there is a problem with the current planning system with many people feeling angry, bewildered and disenfranchised. People want to be involved in the planning for their areas at the start, not at the end, she said.