Lord Mayor dismayed south parklands site first pick for SA Police Mounted Operations Unit

News that part of the parklands might end up being the new base for the police mounted operations unit has riled the Lord Mayor, who says it will “lock away much needed open space”.

Tiffany Kalderovskis with one police greys at the current site behind the Thebarton Police Barracks. Picture: Dean Martin

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has expressed her dismay at revelations a swathe of the south parklands is the preferred site for the new home of Adelaide’s police horses.

Police commissioner Grant Stevens has advised the state government the parcel of land – on the corner of Greenhill Rd and Sir Lewis Cohen Ave – has been selected following an exhaustive evaluation process.

As revealed in the Sunday Mail, the 8ha site – which is largely dry grassland and sparse gum trees – is in the southeastern corner of Mirnu Wirra Park 21.

The site was selected because it best suits police operational needs and will have the least impact on other existing parklands occupants and users.

The current home of the police mounted operations will make way for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Dr Lomax-Smith a site outside the parklands should be found.

“We support SAPOL and love horses, but stabling, offices, equipment stores and high fences are not a suitable use for irreplaceable, diminishing nationally heritage-listed parklands,” Dr Lomax-Smith said

“I simply do not believe that our gorgeous riot-trained SAPOL horses are so poorly trained they can’t cross Greenhill Rd or walk up the footpath on Sir Donald Bradman Drive on their way to work from purpose-built facilities that don’t further encroach on our much needed and loved parklands.

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith. Picture: Kelly Barnes/File

“Mysteriously every assessment from this government seems to find the best building sites are always in the Adelaide Park Lands. Nobody would try this in Central Park or Hyde Park.”

However, Dr Lomax-Smith’s claim is factually wrong, as in 2010 London Metro Police reopened stables in Hyde Park after a six-year hiatus.

The stables, in the heart of the park, house five police horses whose riders use the stables as a base for patrols in central London.

Dr Lomax-Smith called on Premier Peter Malinauskas to reject the proposal, saying it would “lock away much needed open space for the needs of growing populations in the (CBD’s) southwest and from Wayville and Unley”.

Police Minister Joe Szakacs said the government would work with Adelaide City Council “very closely” to ensure there was a “mutually beneficial outcome here for the state, for the City of Adelaide in the way that we move forward for a generation to come”.

Mr Stevens said the decision was made following close scrutiny of many locations including privately owned land and several brownfields sites.

“We assessed each of those sites and considered their availability and suitability,” he said.

“This included factors such as their proximity to the entertainment precinct, the safety of the horses and riders in moving into the city in that they didn’t have to cross main roads.

“And some had restricted access which hampered operational capability. The preferred site also does not have a significant amount of civil works required or site remediation.”

He said Dr Lomax-Smith had voiced her disapproval of the site when first informed.

“I think it’s clear from comments made by the Lord Mayor that they don’t support that decision but once again that’s a matter for the government to work through with the City of Adelaide,” he said.