Freedom of Information documents show University of Adelaide‘s secret $750 million development at Glenthorne Farm
A $750 million secret plan for a 208ha site south of the city has been unearthed through a Freedom of Information request.
THE University of Adelaide has flagged plans for a $750 million development at Glenthorne Farm featuring housing, a shopping centre and business park, government documents show.
Freedom of Information documents reveal the university has put together a master plan for the 208ha O’Halloran Hill site, and floated its vision with the State Government.
The documents released to the CoastCity Weekly included a letter to Planning Minister John Rau from the Planning Department’s chief executive, Michael Deegan, outlining the university’s proposal.
“The university would like to undertake a redevelopment of the site to include a mix of employment and residential uses while also preserving parts of the land for open space and recreation,” he states in his letter.
“It is anticipated that the site could accommodate 1770 jobs ... with a construction investment of $750 million.”
The July 30 letter says the university’s plan includes “neighbourhood level shopping, retail and commercial services”, sports, education and community facilities, and “a range of residential products and densities”.
It also flags a business park, with a focus on research and education, featuring “employment within a forest” and woodland recovery.
The university owns the South Rd site, subject to a deed signed with the State Government.
“The deed required that the university preserve the land for agriculture and related activities and not use the site of urban development,” Mr Deegan’s letter says.
That agreement is due for renewal by April next year.
Marion Council has long lobbied for Glenthorne Farm to remain as open space, as a buffer between housing developments in the south.
The university’s latest plans follow a bid in 2009 to develop the land with 950 houses, which was thrown out by the government. That plan would have helped cover the cost of returning the remainder of the land to native bush.
The university now uses the land to graze about 1900 sheep.
Mayor Kris Hanna said the latest plans went “much further than anyone on (the) council expected”.
“The fact that they’re talking about a shopping centre and a business park is astounding,” he said.
The council and Friends of Glenthorne Farm want the land revegetated as a wildlife corridor and also opened up for sports, walkers and cyclists.
“It’s hard to imagine it being an oasis in the south with that extent of built development,” Mr Hanna said.
The CoastCity Weekly requested an interview with the university about the plans, but instead was sent an emailed statement.
An University of Adelaide spokesman said: “we cannot comment on internal government documents prepared for the purpose of briefing the minister and which have not been previously shared or discussed with the university”.
“Under the deed, the use of Glenthorne can only be changed by agreement between the State Government and the university.
“Absent any government change, the university will not be developing any new plan for the site.”
Mr Rau said the government had “no current plans to change the land use at Glenthorne Farm”.
“The government has met with both the University of Adelaide and the City of Marion to learn more about their proposals,” he said.
‘Keep farm for wildlife’ — Friends of Glenthorne
GLENTHORNE Farm is the perfect spot to provide new habitat for endangered mammals and birds, and should not be developed, a local environment group says.
Friends of Glenthorne Farm secretary Alan Burns says the 208ha site, once revegetated, could attract animals such as the southern brown bandicoot and kangaroo mouse.
It may foster birds including black-chinned honeyeaters and restless flycatchers, he said.
“We want the whole park protected because a lot of birds and animal species need that sort of an area,” he said.
“They don’t need small areas to live — they need a couple of hundred hectares.”
Mr Burns’s group wants the State Government to take back control of the park from the University of Adelaide, and instead set up a management committee or board of local experts and environmentalists.
“We need to make sure everything that happens on the site has a long-term vision and also that there are some recreational ideas, so we can blend them in to the environmental parts of the property,” he said.
“We have a chance to do something really wonderful with the site.”