Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans says council disappointed at Adelaide Crows’ failed Brompton Gasworks headquarters plan

An influential mayor has outlined her council’s disappointment about the scuttling of the Adelaide Crows’ plans for new headquarters on their patch.

CHARLES Sturt Mayor Angela Evans says her council is disappointed about the scuttling of the Adelaide Football Club’s bid to redevelop the former Brompton Gasworks site for new headquarters.

The club’s plans for the inner-western Adelaide site had been developed after engaging with the council, she said, and reflected the community’s interests.

“We are disappointed for the Crows. They worked hard to prepare a bid that not only created a future for their club, but engaged with the City of Charles Sturt to create an opportunity for our community to grow and enjoy green open space,” Ms Evans told The Advertiser.

Ms Evans, also the Local Government Association president, welcomed the successful bidder, MAB Corporation, declaring the council looked forward to establishing a relationship and was “excited to support a vision for the site where people can live, work and visit in a way that enhances their lives”.

“Our role as a council is to represent our passion for our Charles Sturt community, the natural environment and the importance of shared-use, public open space, as well as integrating the existing unique elements and residents of Bowden with this new space,” she said.

Charles Sturt Mayor Angela Evans. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

Independent upper house candidate Colin Shearing, an independent retailers lobbyist, questioned the State Government’s decision not to support a local business – in this case the Crows, and demanded detail of how procurement governance and SA industry participation policies were applied.

“SA-owned business procurement, including robust local industry engagement and long-term community impacts, should always be centre stage to all the state’s development and planning initiatives,” Mr Shearing said.

The Crows’ gasworks bid, which included 57 per cent open space, retail, office space, hotel and short-term accommodation, was torpedoed last Thursday by Treasurer Rob Lucas’s announcement that MAB was the preferred developer.

Artist impressions of the Adelaide Crows’ proposal for headquarters at the Brompton Gasworks site.

It was the second time the Crows’ bid to move from West Lakes had been derailed. The club’s plan to demolish the Adelaide Aquatic Centre and build a $65 million training and administrative complex, which had faced stiff opposition from parklands campaigners and some nearby residents, was shelved in April, 2020.

In March last year, the Adelaide City Council voted to stop the Crows building headquarters in the parklands.

Victorian property developer Ross Pelligra, whose firm had been the Crows’ partners for the gasworks bid, on Friday revealed three sites remained in the mix for the club’s new base but did not specify them.

In a message to members issued after the club was notified of Renewal SA’s decision, Adelaide Football Club chairman John Olsen said “the prospect of a large commercial property developer coming over the top of our community-focused plan had always been a distinct possibility”.

He said the focus would shift to the other site the club had investigated, at Thebarton, to build “a world-class facility encompassing high-performance, administration and community elements”.