Labor MP Lucy Hood slammed by City Deputy Mayor Keiran Snape for ‘misleading’ Adelaide parklands pamphlet

A feud has ignited between the city council’s deputy mayor and Labor MP Lucy Hood after she circulated a pamphlet about the parklands. And neither are backing down.

A pamphlet circulated by Labor MP Lucy Hood, detailing land returned to the Adelaide Parklands, has been branded as “gaslighting” and “misleading” with groups arguing the state government is attempting to take credit for work they did not do.

But Ms Hood defended the pamphlet and said the information is both factual and accurate.

The pamphlet, which was circulated on Wednesday at a community event, detailed “more than 24 hectares of land area has been returned to Park Lands”.

Adelaide City Council deputy Lord Mayor Keiran Snape and the president of the Adelaide Parklands Association has labelled the pamphlet misleading. Picture: Supplied

But City of Adelaide deputy lord mayor Keiran Snape said it contained “a lot of mistruths” including that not all of the parcels of land were returned to the parklands under the current government.

Some of the items including Fitzroy Croquet Club and the conservatory at Veale Gardens, are labelled as being returned to the parklands by the City of Adelaide and the land either side of North Adelaide Station is labelled as having been restored in 1990.

However, other areas, including the old Bureau of Meteorology on the corner of Glover Ave and West Tce and the Post-tel Recreational Institute on West Tce have been left unlabelled.

The Adelaide Park Lands Association detailed that the old Bureau of Meteorology site was returned to the parklands in 1979 and the Post-tel Recreational Institute in 1987.

Adelaide City Council deputy lord mayor Keiran Snape has labelled the pamphlet was ‘an attempt to gaslight the community’. Picture Dean Martin

Mr Snape said the pamphlet was “insulting” and “an attempt to gaslight the community”.

“They are trying to claim credit for things other governments and council have done,” he said.

“It’s incredibly insulting and misleading.”

Mr Snape said the current state government has been “one of the worst for protecting the parklands” and cited the expansion of Adelaide Botanic High School and the carpark of the new Adelaide Aquatic Centre as encroaching on the parklands.

Adelaide Park Lands Association president Shane Sody said the pamphlet was “embarrassing” and many of the parcels of land were returned “before most of the members of government were born”.

“Misleading is just the half of it,” Mr Sody said.

“It should make the state government cringe in embarrassment.

“They have perhaps drawn attention to how poorly they’ve treated the parklands compared to past leadership.”

Member for Adelaide Lucy Hood has defended the pamphlet. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

But Ms Hood defended the pamphlet and said the information in the table is “factual, accurate and reproduced in identical form to how it appears in the Draft Adelaide Park Lands Management Strategy”, a document produced by council.

“It’s concerning the deputy lord mayor clearly hasn’t read the report,” Ms Hood said.

“The list includes land which I proudly fought for to be returned to the Park Lands – Helen Mayo Park (Park 27).”