Flyers, corflutes urging residents to speak up on Adelaide Football Club’s Thebarton Oval plan

It’s been just a week since the club hailed a significant milestone in its bid to build a new $100m headquarters.

The Adelaide Football Club is facing ongoing opposition to its proposed $100m headquarters at Thebarton Oval with flyers and corflutes urging residents to speak up while they can.

‘Crows are landing’ and ‘be a vocal local’ corflutes are on fences around the suburb pointing residents to the AFC’s plan lodged with the State Commission Assessment Panel.

The 5031 Community Facilities and Green Spaces Action Group wants residents to make submissions to SCAP and have a ‘genuine opportunity’ to influence the decision on the plan.

Flyers distributed to residents in the local area detail three ‘submission writing sessions’ and a public meeting on Wednesday with a town planner and traffic consultant.

The flyers warn the development will affect residents with its traffic in local streets, anti-social behaviour, noise and sirens, and 40m plus light towers.

Corflutes in Torrensville against the Crows plan.

More corflutes opposed to the plan.

The AFC last week lodged its headquarter plan with SCAP, following the approval of a 42-year lease over the land by West Torrens Council in December.

The council had previously consulted the community on the plan, which had 428 responses – 51.8 per cent were not in favour of the masterplan as it stood.

A main design change to the plan has included shifting and shrinking the size of a secondary oval after residents raised concerns it was too close to the western boundary of Kings Reserve.

The precinct would also be opened to the public outside of designated match and training times.

The club last week said lodging the plan with SCAP was another “important milestone” in its pursuit of a new headquarters, with the club exploring a move away from its West Lakes home since 2013.

The proposed Adelaide Football Club headquarters at Thebarton would see the clubrooms and high-performance centre facing west from the South Rd side of the oval.

Vision of the Adelaide Football Club’s proposed new training, administration and community precinct at Thebarton Oval. Picture: City Collective

“We are excited by the way our design has evolved and it’s a project with upside for not just our players, coaches and staff, but our members, fans and the broader community,” a club statement said.

Planning Minister Nick Champion appointed SCAP in December to decide on the project due to its economic importance and South Australia-wide interest.

Public comment on the plan is open until midday Thursday, March 21.

The state government is contributing $25m towards the project, with $10m for open and green space and recreational facilities, including bike paths.

The 5031 Community Facilities and Green Spaces Action Group did not want to comment.

Adelaide Football Club declined to comment.