‘Cultural change’ more important than lighting for parklands safety

IMPROVING lighting would improve parklands safety for men but not women, the YWCA says, as its revealed 83 per cent of South Australia’s fear to walk there after dark.

• FULL RESULTS: See all the findings from Your Say SA 2018

• READ BELOW: We’re ready to rethink growth

• Time to rethink GM band, the fight in The Bight and fracking

ADELAIDE Parklands users have been urged to look out for troublemakers and intervene if they see someone being attacked.

An overwhelming 83 per cent of people told the Your Say SA survey they did not feel safe in the Parklands after dark and wanted more lighting to improve security.

But Jemma Taylor Cross, regional manager for YWCA Adelaide, says increasing lighting might help men feel safer but it would not solve the problems women face.

“Lighting is important to some people but, more broadly, we really need that cultural change where people are respectful and don’t attack women who walk alone at night,” she says.

YWCA's Meaghan King and Jemma Taylor Cross in Rymill Park. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Parklands graph your say sa

“But that may be a long way off so I think it’s about people looking out for each other and being equipped to help people out and intervene if they see them being attacked or assaulted in the Parklands at night.

“We just need to give people the confidence to be able to intervene and assist.”

YWCA Adelaide has run its Rise Above the Pack program since 2014, providing people with the skills required to intervene if they see someone being assaulted.

Adelaide City Council’s director of community Clare Mockler says it worked closely with the State Government, businesses and the community to ensure the city and Parklands are a safe and welcoming place.

She says new lighting is planned for areas of the Parklands.

“Under our Park Lands Management Strategy, council is focused on providing lighting along key paths, at recreation hubs, sporting ovals and the urban address to encourage increased use and improve safety for park users,” she says.

The perennial issue of whether development should be in the Parklands only received 23 per cent of support in the survey.

However, 61 per cent of respondents said the facilities in the Parklands needed to be improved.

We are ready to rethink growth

JUST two years after State Parliament created an urban growth boundary around Adelaide, Your Say SA respondents are open to extending it.

Your Say SA growth graph

Just over 52 per cent backed extending urban sprawl to give South Australians a better chance of owning a traditional home on a block of land.

But Property Council SA executive director Daniel Gannon said Adelaide’s growth would come from people trading in backyards for balconies.

“In recent years, South Australians have been challenged to rethink traditional ideas about their city, including a future that involves shifting from the low-density sprawl of the past to high quality, medium density living of the present and future,” he said.

Former planning minister John Rau said in 2016 that the boundary allowed the government to manage the state’s future growth and “put people at the centre of planning decisions”.

— Adam Langenberg