Large part of eastern Adelaide parklands close for six months for major events
Locals are being progressively shut out of their parklands and being forced to make way for builders and events. And they say their kids and pets are paying the price.
East, Inner Suburbs & Hills
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Inner eastern suburbs residents and city dwellers are quickly running out of spaces to exercise, take their children to playgrounds or walk their dogs.
Large parts of the parklands between East Tce, Dequetteville Tce and Fullarton Rd progressively are being closed off for several months, either for construction projects or major events.
Rundle Road already has been closed until early September to accommodate a large pavilion for the flagship production of Illuminate Adelaide.
Neighbouring Rymill Park has been encircled by cyclone fencing until October to protect public safety while contractors install new subterranean infrastructure.
Two thirds of Victoria Park will be closed to the public from September until next February for the Adelaide 500, including resealing large parts of the racing circuit.
The area includes the bitumen track inside the park and the concrete pit area, popular with walkers and cyclists.
Adelaide City Council voted last month to allow Illuminate Adelaide to use Rundle Rd at short notice after it was told other alternative locations, such as Rymill Park, had been ruled out.
This followed council infrastructure officers telling the event’s organisers that a $3.1m project was being undertaken by Adelaide City Council to prepare the site for next year’s festival season.
It involved new electrical cabling, mains water supply and an electrical transformer capable of powering the park’s principal Fringe user, Gluttony, reducing the need for generators.
The work in Rymill Park meant Illuminate Adelaide’s biggest installation, a Turkish-based lightshow called Wisdom of AI Light, could not be put there.
Illuminate Adelaide already had started selling tickets online, leaving council staff with less than a month to consult with residents and businesses about closing Rundle Rd.
South Ward councillor Alexander Hyde said this was followed by the revelation last week that Victoria Park would close for six months because of Adelaide 500.
“It is always difficult to balance our events with the disruption they cause and in the city’s east we are also delivering infrastructure upgrades to make that an easier task for the long term,” he said.
“It is disappointing that the State Government did not provide us the information to consider the scale of disruption that Illuminate and the Adelaide 500 will bring concurrently.
“It seems the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing and this is being rushed to satisfy an election commitment.”
Cr Hyde said the closure of such a large extent of the parklands could have been avoided if government had communicated more effectively with the council.
“Had they been upfront with us it may have made more sense on balance to move Illuminate to a city fringe location and forgo the economic uplift this year, or to delay our infrastructure program and wear inflationary costs in a year’s time,” he said.
“Both are not ideal but neither is the dog’s breakfast our eastern Park Lands and associated roads will be for the coming months.”
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