Planning Minister John Rau releases finalised update of 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide
SEE THE PLAN: A scaling back of planned changes to zoning rules around Adelaide picks “winners and losers” for quick development and may rob other developers of the chance to grow, industry leaders say.
A SCALING back of planned changes to zoning rules around Adelaide now picks “winners and losers” for quick development and may rob other developers of the chance to grow, industry leaders warn.
Planning Minister John Rau released an update of the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide on Monday following public consultation last year.
Instead of changing planning rules, such as height restrictions, along sections of major corridors such as Port Rd or Anzac Highway, the new version focuses on plots of land close to the CBD where there is the likelihood of development within 18 months.
Mr Rau said the chosen sites had “a large footprint, a single owner, are near to the city and have reasonable prospects of development opportunities”.
“These are ready to go development opportunities now and we’re keen to unlock them if we can get the process right,” he said.
Mr Rau said there was “no great urgency” in changing the rules in other areas initially earmarked for change because there was no evidence that “we would automatically see development springing up”.
However, property developers say opportunities may be missed.
“The great risk with the plan put forward today is that the Government might now be picking winners and losers when it comes to rezoning particular thoroughfares across metropolitan Adelaide,” Property Council SA executive director Daniel Gannon said.
“You might now have a situation where some developers who are situated just next door or across the road are asking themselves ‘Why wasn’t my property rezoned?’.”
Urban Development Institute of SA chief executive Pat Gerace said the new plan addressed “low hanging fruit” for development and there could be “a missed opportunity” elsewhere.
“They (government) are looking to get some results quickly, and they have chosen some sites where we would assume that proponents have spoken to them about those (development plans),” he said.
The Government last year released an updated version of the plan — which was first developed in 2010 — for public consultation, in which it downgraded population projections.
The 2010 plan anticipated the city’s population would grow by as many as 560,000 people over three decades.
The Government now anticipates a maximum of 545,000 new residents by 2045.
That would lift Adelaide’s population from 1.42 million today to 1.97 million in 2045.
Industry leaders remain concerned that Adelaide’s relatively slow population growth compared to other states, about 1 per cent annually, is limiting economic expansion and the creation of new jobs.
Mr Rau said there had been a “dramatic slowing” in people moving to fringe suburbs outside the city of Adelaide and instead were creating demand for so-called infill developments which are increasing density in the CBD.
The new plan increases the target for infill from 70 per cent to 85 pet cent of new housing.