What it’ll cost to ready Glenside Hospital site to build houses: remediation cost, extent included in new application by Cedar Woods
THE multi-million dollar cost of decontaminating a 16.5ha site in Adelaide’s inner-south for housing, that includes razing 80 significant trees, has been revealed — as well as when it’ll likely happen.
- ‘You’ll axe 80-odd trees significant trees, for what?’
- How will 1000 new homes add to this city-bound traffic chaos in Adelaide’s inner south-east?
- Deal paves way for 1000 homes, apartments to be built around Glenside Hospital
- Preferred builder picked for $300m Glenside development
- $15 million Glenside mental health hub for veterans’ scaled back
A DEVELOPER will have to spend $6 million to clear the Glenside Hospital site of contaminated top soil before it can start work on a 1000-home estate.
The cost and extent of remediation is included in an application by home builder Cedar Woods to the State Government’s Development Assessment Commission.
The company also plans to spend a further $7 million preparing the site, including demolishing buildings, chopping down 80 trees and building a sales centre.
A majority of the site was contaminated with potentially carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a result of its previous use as a hospital.
The contaminated soil would be dug up and then buried up to 3.5m below the new homes.
Clean soil would then be spread across the site, in open spaces and townhouse gardens, at depths of 50cm to 1m.
Cedar Woods’ development director Patrick Archer is confident the site will be safe.
“We’ve employed experts to tell us the best way to do it,” Mr Archer said.
“We’ve had an environmental scientist who has prepared the plan, and that has been audited by an EPA auditor.”
Mr Archer said the 80 trees needed to be felled to get access to the contaminated soil.
“If there was an easier way that would cost a little bit more, that would be something we would consider,” he said.
“You can’t not clean it up.”
The State Government agreed to sell the 16.5ha hospital site to Cedar Woods for $28.5 million last year.
Settlement on the deal is scheduled to happen in June.
About 1000 homes, including multistorey apartments, will be built around Glenside Hospital under the project which is expected to generate around 450 fulltime construction jobs and $400 million in building and other activities.
The multi-million dollar sale of the land will help to pay for new mental health facilities at Glenside and the consolidation of drug and alcohol services at Stepney.
Renewal SA general manager of property Michael Buchan said the long settlement allowed for an “unconditional sale”, pending approval of Cedar Woods’ development applications.
Cedar Woods expects to start remediation work in the second half of this year and complete it by June 2018.