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Walkerville Council admits it failed to properly follow rules to rezone controversial YMCA site

An inner-city council failed to properly follow the process to rezone the Walkerville YMCA site, giving members a glimmer of hope they might be able to stay past their December eviction date.

Alison Fairweather, James Melhuish, Colin Organ and Patrick Schult with Daniela, 10, Schyler, 10, and Stella, 5 inside the INEA Walkerville that the council wants to rezone. Picture: Matt Loxton
Alison Fairweather, James Melhuish, Colin Organ and Patrick Schult with Daniela, 10, Schyler, 10, and Stella, 5 inside the INEA Walkerville that the council wants to rezone. Picture: Matt Loxton

A plan to redevelop an inner-northern YMCA has hit a roadblock after Walkerville Council revealed its process to rezone the site did not meet legislative requirements.

The Inner North East of Adelaide YMCA, which was set to be evicted from its Smith St hub in December, now hopes to “buy more time” while the council addresses the error.

The council last week pulled its application to the State Government to have the site rezoned to allow for development because the first stage of the process – community consultation conducted in 2016 – was never sent to the Local Government Minister for approval.

INEA YMCA chief executive Colin Organ inside the Smith St centre in Walkerville. Picture: Matt Loxton
INEA YMCA chief executive Colin Organ inside the Smith St centre in Walkerville. Picture: Matt Loxton

A new round of community consultation will be held in September.

INEA YMCA chief executive Colin Organ hoped the centre – used by 60,000 people a year – would now be able to operate past December.

“We will now raise the matter with the State Government to try and get continuity of facilities and keep the programs going,” Mr Organ said.

“Given the community is just coming out of the whole COVID isolation and lockdown, it does not make sense to be closing community facilities when the public needs them going forward.

“Our members are going to fight, and they want to stay.”

The INEA YMCA at Smith St in Walkerville will close in December.
The INEA YMCA at Smith St in Walkerville will close in December.

INEA first raised concerns about its future in 2011 after the council only granted a three-year lease, rather than 10 years. It has been on short-term leases ever since.

Under the council’s plan, the zoning would be changed from community to operational so development opportunities were not “restricted”.

A council spokeswoman said there was no intention to extend the YMCA’s lease.

Walkerville Mayor Elizabeth Fricker told a council meeting last week there was “no excuse” for the error, however there was “so much happening at the time”.

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Cr Mary Lou Bishop said the council never intended any wrongdoing.

“At no stage in this whole process did we do anything that we thought was illegal, inappropriate or untoward – it was just an error and oversight,” she said.

In March, the council announced it wanted to find a long-term tenant for the YMCA site who was willing to invest and redevelop the site into a community complex like a childcare centre, church, theatre or pool.

Walkerville Council will go out to tender and ask if anyone is interested in redeveloping the YMCA site.
Walkerville Council will go out to tender and ask if anyone is interested in redeveloping the YMCA site.

The offer included the Fuller Street Works Depot that backs onto the INEA YMCA site.

The council is focused on building a “hub” on nearby Walkerville Oval, which the YMCA can apply to be a part of, to service sporting clubs and the wider community.

The council hopes to resubmit plans for rezoning to the minister in December and select a developer by May 2021.

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/city/walkerville-council-admits-it-failed-to-properly-follow-rules-to-rezone-controversial-ymca-site/news-story/a3b5e595c93b98fa1ffcac09dcf4f2ab