Bianco site in Kilkenny targeted for hundreds of new Defence homes
DEFENCE Housing Australia is now a step closer to building homes at a former inner-western Adelaide industrial site which has been vacant for more than a decade.
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HUNDREDS of defence homes could be built at the former Bianco site next to Kilkenny railway station, which has been vacant for more than a decade.
The owner of the site, Peter Gregg, has been given permission by Charles Sturt Council to fund an investigation into rezoning the former industrial land for residential and mixed-use development.
Mr Gregg told the council that he had been approached by Defence Housing Australia, which had targeted the site for its proximity to the city, RAAF base at Edinburgh and Techport.
“Defence Housing Australia … have said that it is the site that is number one in South Australia for them,” Mr Gregg said.
“People want to be as close to the city as possible these days so being at the base is no longer applicable.
”They would like to be (near) a railway line and the fact that it is near the Air Warfare Destroyers and the Frigates, it could also service that, so they are very keen on the location.”
Mr Greggs said he would now work with Defence Housing Australia and the council on his proposed planning amendment.
A Defence Housing Australia spokeswoman told Messenger Community News that it was interested in the Kilkenny area but that it had no plans in the pipeline.
“Defence Housing Australia’s interest in any potential housing development is dependent on the Australian Defence Force forecast housing requirements for Adelaide,” she said.
It’s been a long road for Mr Gregg, who has been trying to develop the site for more than a decade.
“It’s been quite a frustrating and difficult time but I think we are nearly there,” he said.
“Virtually 100 per cent of the residents would like something to happen on that site.”
Mr Gregg said he was “more than happy” to work with neighbouring manufacturer O-I Glass, which had opposed residential development on the site for years.
Ekistics Planning and Design managing director Richard Dwyer, on behalf of O-I Glass, said a high-density residential development on the site was “incompatible” with 24/7 glassmaking activities.
He said a residential development would put the Port Rd factory and its 360 jobs at risk as there would likely be an increase in the number of complaints to the EPA about its noise and smell.
He said there needed to be a signed agreement in advance that its conditions would not be tightened.
“O-I Glass should be protected in advance from any adverse impacts from … complaints from future residents,” Mr Dwyer said.