Council endorses an extra $200,000 to see Glenthorne National Park Nature Play done right

A southern council has expressed its disappointment at a budget blow out on a key community project after being blindsided by a government department asking for more money.

For years residents from Adelaide’s south have been waiting for their new $6.5m playground – now a budget blowout could mean the project becomes a ‘half-baked cake’.

Plans for the Glenthorne National Park Nature Play, dubbed as the “St Kilda of the south”, were unveiled as a ‘inclusive space’ with a number of play spaces for children to let their imaginations run wild.

Now, the Environment Department has said that may not be the case.

“We’ve seen building materials essentially sky rocket in the last year, especially even in the last four months,” the park’s project manager Jarrod Eaton said.

“No one is willing give quotes extending more than 30 days, that makes it hard for us to commit to any materials.”

A number of play space elements have been either reduced or deleted off the endorsed plan as a result of the blowout.

This includes the reduction of rubber soft fall areas, cutting three gum nut sound sculptures to one, three log tables reduced to two, four monkey bars reduced to two and removing an amphitheatre.

Concept image of the Picnic lawn area at Glenthorne. Pic: DEW

Mr Eaton said if a surplus of money was to become available in budget later on, the department would look at a number of items to reintroduce.

However, a number of Marion councillors were disappointed to hear the park had become a “half-baked cake” and were unaware of any cuts up until a month ago.

“It’s $2.2m of our rate payers money, this deserves better,” Cr Bruce Hull said.

“We’ll end up with a half-baked cake, that is not what our community wants.

“We want to get this right and we want to get it right the first time.”

The Nature Play Precinct will be the centrepiece of Glenthorne National Park makeover which is expected to cost more than $20m.

In 2018, the former state government signed a memorandum of understanding with University of Adelaide to take over ownership of Glenthorne Farm.

The Environment Department has since committed an extra $200,000 to the budget to ensure the project will be completed, with council endorsing the same amount of money to be made available for any other costs that arise.

Opposition Leader David Speirs said: “Labor has shown a casual indifference to Glenthorne for years and had they had their way it likely would have been chopped up for housing.

“They’re determined to spoil the community amenity at his special national park because it wasn’t their idea.”