Adelaide City Council targets Hindley St for major renovation

After years of inaction, Adelaide’s notorious party strip must be transformed by the new city council to clean up its image and support its daytime economy.

Adelaide’s notorious Hindley St must be transformed from the “drab”, “dirty” and “depressing” precinct it is now into a city highlight, according to traders.

After a decade of discussions and numerous failed plans, the newly elected Adelaide City Council must commit to, or source funding for the Hindley St masterplan.

“Consultation has been going on for far too long, it’s time for action,” Adelaide West End Traders Association spokesman Andrew Wallace said.

“It must be delivered soon, it’s ridiculous we have Rundle St as a fantastic shopping and hospitality strip, then you walk to Hindley St which is a bit depressing and drab. It’s time for this part of the city to be taken seriously.”

Hindley St was identified by the council this term as one of four cultural hearts of the city to be rejuvenated as part of its main street revitalisation program.

O’Connell, Melbourne and Hutt streets were also identified, with the state government as part of an election promise contributing $4m to Hutt and Melbourne street beautifications.

Despite consultation starting first on Hindley St, it is yet to have a time frame or cost for its rejuvenation.

A lone pedestrian walks along Hindley St. Picture: Russell Millard

“I am putting the council chamber on notice that if re-elected I will push to have Hindley St fixed,” Councillor Franz Knoll said. “The consultation is done, the plans are there, what has been missing is the political will to make it happen.”

Imprints Booksellers owner Jason Lake said the strip had been “horribly neglected for the past 20 years” other than footpath extensions which had removed car parks, which hurt daytime trading.

“Anything that has been done in the last few years was very minimal and has been to benefit the night-time economy,” Mr Lake said.

“The street is dirty; it’s choked with massage parlours and there’s graffiti everywhere.”

A Hindley St draft concept plan was considered by the council in August, which included widening footpaths, outdoor dining and more flexible parking. An updated design will be considered by the new council in March prior to more public consultation.

Previous upgrade ideas had included making Hindley St one-way and widening footpaths to create a tree-lined boulevard at a cost of $15m.

An artist impression showing Hindley St as a one-way street. Picture: Supplied

In 2019, The Advertiser reported that council staff had abandoned four major council-endorsed projects to improve the strip since 2013, including a masterplan.

Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor, who is seeking re-election, said improvements to lighting, flags, footpaths and CCTV had been made with some funding for the masterplan envisaged in 2023-24.

“I’m very focused on bringing back new life to (all of) the main streets,” Ms Verschoor said.

“We’ve positioned the budget now in a way we’ve return a surplus, frozen our rate in the dollar and bought the budget back to black, which puts us in a really good position to do what we need to do.”

However, candidate Jane Lomax-Smith believed the current “swag of masterplans are just a mirage” and they had “raised hopes without commitment”.

“The council has done a lot of consulting and talking but without any firm commitment to take action,” Dr Lomax-Smith said. “The next council needs to prioritise and to fund action across the city.”

Rex Patrick, who was also standing for mayor, said he would have to consider a range of factors to decide whether the Hindley St masterplan was progressed ahead of the others.