Court battle over $1 billion Festival Plaza developer’s secret carpark letter

DEVELOPERS behind the stalled $1 billion Festival Plaza upgrade have launched court action in a last-ditch bid to stop a letter they sent to Deputy Premier John Rau from becoming public.

• Detailed plans for the Festival Plaza overhaul
• $610 million plan to upgrade Festival Plaza
• Rau ordered to release secret letter from developer
• Lang Walker’s long-awaited $1bn plans look set to go ahead

DEVELOPERS behind the stalled $1 billion Festival Plaza upgrade have launched court action in a last-ditch bid to stop a letter they sent to Deputy Premier John Rau from becoming public.

District Court documents obtained by The Advertiser show the Walker Corporation has launched an appeal against a ruling from Ombudsman Wayne Lines.

He ruled in March that releasing the letter, which relates to plans for a new carpark under the plaza, was in the public interest.

The Government more than a year ago announced $610 million plans for the precinct, which included a new office tower and retail space on the plaza.

It also featured a facelift of the Adelaide Festival Centre and space for the planned $300 million Adelaide Casino upgrade.

An artist’s impression for the planned Festival Plaza redevelopment.

The plans include a 24-storey office tower and a two-storey complex of restaurants, luxury shops, cafes and bars on Parliament House’s northern side.

At the time, it was anticipated the build would take about three years to finish.

Industry sources say the landmark project has been thrown into serious doubt by delays to the casino expansion and lack of a binding contract between the Government and lead developer.

Lawyers for Walker Corp will argue in court that the letter to Mr Rau should be kept secret as Mr Lines incorrectly determined it would be in the public interest for it to be released.

A Government spokesman said it was unlikely to become involved in the court action, and was “working to commence construction on the Festival Plaza as soon as possible”.

Deputy Opposition Leader Vickie Chapman has waged a year-long battle for all correspondence between the parties since 2010.

An artist’s impression of the Festival Plaza redevelopment plans.

She said the launch of a court battle had “cast a further cloud over secrecy in this state”.

“This is a project that the Government claim to be proud of, on public land, and which is to go ahead using public money and needs permissions from the Parliament,” Ms Chapman said.

“Here we are, still without a contract, and continued concealment of key documents.

“It’s shaping up to be another Gillman, the way this project is going at the moment.”

Parliament has been told a heads of agreement, but no firm contract, exists with Walker Corp.

The Government has also left open the option of becoming a tenant in the proposed office tower, with Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis saying only that he “doesn’t have plans” to do so.

A Government spokesman said: “Reaching agreement between all of the parties is something we are working very hard to achieve and we hope to do so soon.

“We are working to commence construction on the Festival Plaza as soon as possible. The negotiation involves a series of complex agreements between the Government, Walker Corporation, SkyCity and the Adelaide Festival Centre.”

An artist’s impression of the Festival Plaza redevelopment plans.

Mr Walker’s lawyers wrote to Mr Lines a year ago, warning “arrangements with the Government remain pending” and the letter concerned a “significant commercial development negotiation”.

Mr Lines found it was on balance in the public interest to release the letter.

“The reasons provided by the agency ... were, in my view, inadequate,” he writes.

“It remains unclear from both the agency and the third party submissions what information in the document has a commercial value. The document ... is to be released.

“Agencies should always turn their minds to the objects of the (FOI) Act, to extend as far as possible, the rights of the public to obtain access to information held by the Government.”

Walker Corp in 2014 launched court action against Greens MP Mark Parnell over an FOI in which he sought copies of documents about the proposed Riverbank redevelopment.