How will Fullarton Rd, Greenhill Rd and Glen Osmond Rd intersection, Britannia roundabout cope with 1000 new houses?

A RESIDENTS’ group is questioning how one of Adelaide’s busiest intersections, as well as the nearby Britannia roundabout, will cope if 1000 new houses are built just metres away.

A RESIDENTS’ group and the Burnside mayor say the State Government must come up with a way to deal with traffic issues if it presses ahead with plans to build 1000 houses on the former Glenside Hospital site.

Burnside Residents Group president Anna Sullivan said members wanted more detail about the government’s plans to sell the 17ha space on Fullarton Rd.

“We’d be interested to see how traffic is planned for,” Dr Sullivan said.

“They’re going to need a traffic management plan because Greenhill and Fullarton roads are busy roads and with the new (Britannia) roundabouts they’ve increased enormously.

“We’ll be very interested to see how much say the local community will have in this significant development.”

A 2008 plan prepared in anticipation of the land sale said the intersections of Fullarton and Greenhill roads and Fullarton and Glen Osmond roads already operated “close to capacity at peak periods”.

The report said more than 30,000 cars used each road daily.

Burnside Mayor David Parkin agreed traffic would be a major issue for the development.

“I struggle to see how 1000 new residents will get in and out at peak times,” Mr Parkin said.

Planning Minister John Rau announced the sale last month, saying the government would seek a private sector partner early this year to transform the site into a “diverse, thriving community”.

“It is envisioned the Glenside development will be a mixed-use site with opportunity for some commercial development like cafes, small offices and shops, as well as residential land,” Mr Rau said.

The government would host an open day in February, the first step in its public consultation process.

State Government agency Renewal SA and the developer would draft a master plan for the site and provide further opportunities for community input, Mr Rau said.

Unley Liberal MP David Pisoni opposes the sale, saying it would be “an enormous loss of open space”.

“(The) Unley (electorate) has a very low proportion of open space compared to other suburbs and under the pressure of more urban consolidation needs more open space, not less,” Mr Pisoni said.

This was also a concern for Dr Sullivan.

“A lot of residents are concerned about keeping open space and the type of open space retained that is useful open space,” she said.

Mr Rau said heritage-listed buildings such as The Elms and the hospital’s former laundry would be retained.

Site works would likely begin in 2016 and the full redevelopment would take several years.