An Appeal to the Premier

Dear Premier

I’ve lived in Adelaide for over 60 years and have watched it go through various iterations of development. In recent years there have been some really poor decisions made that have degraded the city and intruded on public spaces and squares. Col Light planned this city in a manner that was ahead of his time and gave us open and accessible public spaces across the city. What a joy it is to spend time in our parks! Two hundred years later the key concepts in Light’s plan are being emulated internationally. Please continue Light’s vision and provide the opportunity for Adelaide to be a human-centric city.

The decision to allow high rise development on the north-west corner of Whitmore Square is an example of a poor planning decision. A multi-storey building that encloses this park and casts shade - and it’s an ugly building as well. The recent high-rise developments on North Terrace make me feel very sad for this once beautiful city.

Now you are planning another disaster that looks like it will cost the city for generations to come. The proposal to build yet another tall and ugly building that will dwarf our fabulous Festival Centre as well as our heritage Parliament House and remove the existing public space is seriously flawed. This is a space that should be revitalised and turned into something dynamic and wonderful; a civic centre. Instead you propose to give this important site to an interstate developer for a peppercorn rent for 100 years! What are you thinking? Any revenue gained from the proposed development into the future will leave SA! And I understand that the city will be responsible for the end-of-lease demolition costs. This is clearly madness and a debt that waits on the horizon for future generations. We were promised low-rise, three-storey development on the site that would complement the existing, important buildings and provide open space for our population that would revitalise the area as a civic space.

With recent high-rise development in the city we have already largely lost the opportunity for Adelaide to be a human-scale city (like the old part of Paris and many other European centres) where people can walk and live. Please don’t add to this by removing the opportunity for a civic space in the centre of government and the arts. This would be not only a shame, but a financial disaster for the city that we can ill-afford.

We need you to be forward thinking on development in the city to ensure that generations to come want to live here, to attract world events and tourism, and to build on our reputation as the Festival City.

Please turn your attention to the lack of life in Victoria Square. The various iterations of design of this important space have largely failed. The area is not a comfortable place to be, the roads divide the space and the buildings around it are commercial, not residential. Here is where your attention to bringing life into the city could reap huge rewards.

Please give Adelaide the air it needs to revitalise in a human-centric way that is in line with the original plan and best practice for current city design. Do not squander this opportunity. You could be known as the Premier who brought life back into the city. If you proceed with this ridiculous plan you will instead be known as the short-sighted Premier who destroyed the city (and added to the State debt…).

Kind regards,

Verna Blewett PhD
Marryatville

Image: Milan Piazza del Duomo