State planning department director Anita Allen and driver of controversial planning overhaul quits

A senior government bureaucrat behind one of the state’s most controversial reforms has announced her resignation.

A senior state government bureaucrat and architect of the state’s planning overhaul has resigned amid opposition to the potential rezoning of the Adelaide Parklands.

The state’s planning and development director Anita Allen, instrumental in designing the state’s new planning system, is leaving the public service after 17 years for private planning consultant URPS.

Ms Allen’s departure comes six months after the statewide rollout of the planning and design code, which replaced all council development plans with a single set of planning rules aimed at streamlining development assessment process.

URPS said on its LinkedIn page that Ms Allen was a “driving force” in delivering the planning reforms.

The at-times unpopular overhaul took five years with the budget blowing out from $27m to $43m. The government says the reforms have reduced planning approval times.

Ms Allen announced her resignation publicly on LinkedIn and said she was “proud of what we have achieved together over the past five years with hard work, dedication and a strong sense of belief in what we do”.

State government planning department bureaucrat Anita Allen Source: LinkedIn

Her resignation also comes as the government faces community opposition over the proposed rezoning of the Riverbank Precinct to enable commercial development and buildings of up to 20 levels on the North Tce side of a new $680m arena.

Fifteen-storey buildings would be allowed near new Women’s and Children’s Hospital under the changes out for public consultation.

Development closer to the River Torrens would have to be of a lower height.

Planning Minister Vickie Chapman thanked Ms Allen for her tenure with the planning department.

“For the past five years she has been integral in developing, delivering and implementing the once-in-a-generation reform, which has streamlined and improved our state’s planning system,” she said.

“I thank her for her tireless work and wish her well in this exciting new opportunity.”

The Sunday Mail in February revealed details of an internal audit of the planning reform process, which found unauthorised spending and poor budget oversight.

Several planning professionals in August criticised the new system as cumbersome, ill-conceived and said it had “blown-out” processing times.

But Ms Chapman said at the time she had been “overwhelmed” by the support and “endorsement” of the system by industry representatives she has met with.