14,000 residents sign petition to delay State Government’s Planning and Design Code
A massive reform of the state’s building laws will threaten heritage buildings and take power away from all councils, 14,000 Adelaide residents say.
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About 14,000 Adelaide residents demand the State Government to postpone controversial building reforms, which they say will threaten heritage buildings and strip residents of a voice.
A petition with 14,000 signatures will be handed to State Parliament on Wednesday, calling for an immediate review of the Planning and Design Code – a major reform that seeks to streamline building approval.
A small group gathered outside State Parliament on Sunday to protest against the plan, which they say will allow “unfettered” infill and high-rise development in suburban Adelaide.
Professor Warren Jones, convener of Protect our Heritage Alliance, claims the petition is the second-largest in state history.
He said the government’s plans will “allow uncontrolled development in urban areas”.
“They will threaten all sorts of heritage, and also the provisions in this legislation do threaten natural heritage, that is national parks and other areas.”
The Code seeks to create a single planning and design rule book to guide future development and an online planning system.
The State Government argues the overhaul will make building a house less confusing, give greater certainty and speed up approval process by not having to navigate 72 council development plans.
“This new legislation will take a lot of the control away from councils and local communities,” Mr Jones said.
“What we want is for the government to … defer implementing this new code for at least a year so that they can go back and look at it.
“It’s a mess at the moment and we are worried that it will destroy a lot of what we love in Adelaide.”
Netherby resident Joanna Wells, 50, was among the nine protesters holding up a banner that read: “Planning for the people, planning by the people”.
“I’m really concerned about the way the planning code is going, particularly the loss of voice for councils,” she told The Advertiser.
“The thing’s that also really worrying about it is the lack of care for the natural environment – developers can just raze an entire block and put in something that’s basically hard surfaces.”
Ms Wells said the proposed code will ”let the genie out of the bottle”.
“Once you destroy a lot of the old houses and suburbs that people actually come to Adelaide for, you’re never going to get it back, they’re gone forever.”
A larger protest was planned in February, but it was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
A small group has gathered to protest against the proposed Planning and Design Code, which they say will threaten heritage buildings and parks across #Adelaide @theTiser #saparli pic.twitter.com/gfbs0ojnjL
— Gabriel Polychronis (@G_Polychronis) May 31, 2020