Medical centre proposed for busy Mount Barker road, heritage home demolished under plan
A 100-year-old home that’s “beyond repair” would be torn down for a new medical centre along one of the Adelaide Hills’ busiest roads.
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A heritage home would be torn down and a medical centre built on a busy Mount Barker corner under a new plan for the surging Adelaide Hills town.
Planning documents reveal a three-suite Jones Radiology building is proposed for the corner of Adelaide Rd and Druids Ave, replacing three buildings.
The medical centre would slope to the property’s rear to become a two-storey building, with a 42-spot carpark at the back. Cars would turn into the carpark from Druids Ave.
The 1924-built local heritage-listed residence at 46 Adelaide Rd would be demolished under the plans, along with the chiropractor’s building and another.
The documents say the heritage home is “irredeemably beyond repair” because of the building’s inadequate footing system is causing structural defects, 15mm cracks in walls and the ceiling and a listing to the side.
Keeping it would require “removal and replacement of a significant proportion of building fabric”.
“Very little authentic original fabric would remain,” On Architecture’s report found. “The heritage integrity of the building will be nearly entirely lost.
The veranda needs replacing, as well as the internal floors, and large sections of the external walls.
The documents show the building was renovated in 2021, but further cracking was expected even if new repairs were made and the “cost of remediation would outweigh the cost of demolition and reconstruction”.
Meanwhile, a residential home is not the best spot for the thoroughfare, which is one of Mount Barker’s busiest roads, they say.
The medical centre would include six imaging rooms, while the lower ground floor would offer three tenancies with 15 consulting rooms in total.
Waiting rooms, staffrooms and offices are included.
Two regulated trees would be removed – a plane tree and a sweet gum tree – with native plants proposed for landscaping.
Parking would be off Druids Ave, through the existing entry for the chiro, but the documents note that cars queuing for the traffic lights on Druids Ave would block patients leaving and wanting to turn right.
Overall, the submission found the proposal “will not adversely affect the flow of traffic in the surrounding network”.
Public submissions are open until January 17.
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Originally published as Medical centre proposed for busy Mount Barker road, heritage home demolished under plan
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