Moving date confirmed for Adelaide Hills’ 16th Regiment but mystery surrounds future of Woodside Barracks

One of SA’s largest army units is moving out of its Hills barracks, opening up a massive piece of land. So should it become housing?

Australia’s only ground-based air defence unit will soon farewell its decades-long Adelaide Hills home – but uncertainty hangs over the future of the huge site.

Department of Defence has confirmed the 16th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, will relocate from 160ha Woodside Barracks army base to a new precinct at the RAAF Base Edinburgh between September and October this year.

“Prior to the relocation, preliminary activities will be undertaken, including the transfer of large historical items to the new facilities,” a spokesperson said.

The new precinct – named Darwin Lines – will become home to hundreds of gunners from the specialist unit, who will train to operate the new National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) as part of wider efforts to modernise the country’s key air defence systems.

The move was announced after Defence determined the Woodside facility would be unable to support the new capability “due to their age, footprint, size, capacity and the way facilities have been constructed”.

Questions have since emerged over the future of the barracks, which some fear could be sold off for housing.

The Inverbrackie detention centre, next door to the barracks, was sold in 2015 and is now being developed into housing.

The Woodside army barracks in the Adelaide Hills, which is surrounded by vineyards.

The facility was included in a confidential national review of defence land sites completed more than a year ago, but the government is yet to respond to its findings.

Defence Minister Richard Marles last year would not rule out the closure of the barracks.

A spokesperson for Mr Marles told The Advertiser this week Defence was “undertaking further analysis to understand the impacts of the findings and recommendations of the Defence Estate Audit, particularly with respect to personnel and capability”.

“As the Deputy Prime Minister (Marles) has said, the Albanese Government will release its response to the audit this year, once that work is complete,” the spokesperson said.

The barracks are also used by the separate Royal Australian Air Force Cadet Unit and an Australian Army Cadet Unit, which are not part of the move.

Independent Adelaide Hills MP Rebekha Sharkie says her community wants clarity about the future of the Woodside Barracks. Picture: Supplied.

Independent Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie said if retaining the barracks as a defence resource wasn’t an option, the community wanted it to become an outdoor recreation area “like Belair National Park”.

“We surveyed thousands of locals last year and overwhelmingly they want to see the barracks retained,” she said.

“The bushland areas within the barracks are a haven for native plants and animals. As well, there are established recreational amenities within the site.”

Independent Kavel MP Dan Cregan said the community viewed the relocation of the 16th Regiment as “the wrong decision” and was opposed it the land being used as housing.

He said the site needed to remain “for a significant community use”.

“In the absence of a decision to relocate Australian soldiers to the site, we would want to retain it for community use and would oppose the disposal of the land for housing.”