Issues around saving trees at Kings Reserve threaten to jeopardise Adelaide Football Club’s plans for the Thebarton Oval precint

The “healthiest and best looking” trees in Kings Reserve could prove to be a spanner in the works for the Crows’ new Thebarton Oval headquarters.

Ten trees may jeopardise Adelaide Football Club’s plans for the Thebarton Oval precinct.

The Crows have been in talks with government officials this week about tweaking the lease boundary for the club’s proposed second oval, Kings Reserve, so that a group of trees near the park rotunda can be saved.

It is understood Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis, whose electorate of West Torrens includes Thebarton Oval, has made a commitment to some local residents that the 10 trees will be maintained.

Vision of the Adelaide Football Club’s proposed new training, administration and community precinct at Thebarton Oval. Picture: City Collective

But changing the lease boundary to spare them could threaten the AFL’s funding to the Crows, believed to be between $5m and $6m.

The league’s donation requires the two grounds to meet minimum dimensions for training of 110m in length and 80m in width.

At present, the indicative lease line straddles the oval’s western boundary.

Moving the line to the north to keep the trees would shrink the ground, making it smaller than AFL training standards.

Koutsantonis’s office is understood to have urged West Torrens Council to change the lease boundary for Kings Reserve in the lead-up to its special meeting on Thursday night.

The council, which debated Adelaide’s masterplan for the precinct and endorsed it to go out to public consultation on Thursday evening, has held its ground and left the indicative line as it is, waiting for the Crows and state government to reach an agreement.

This month, the state government announced $25m in funding for the Crows – $15m for the redevelopment that matched a previous federal commitment, as well as $10m for improvements to community space around the site impacted by the North-South Corridor upgrade.

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas with Crows players Sarah Allan, Chelsea Randall and Jordan Dawson with Crows chairman John Olsen. Picture: Keryn Stevens

Dr Emma Dawes, a member of the 5031 Community Facilities and Greenspaces Action Group, said residents wanted the trees, which she described as the park’s “healthiest and best looking”, to be retained.

“On surface value, all of this to protect 10 trees sounds ridiculous but the trees are also a boundary for our community area,” Dr Dawes told this masthead.

“We’re waiting for the final line to be drawn in the sand but we’ve been reassured by state government that they will be seeking to protect them.

“Protecting these extra 10 trees gives us 3ha of our park (community land), as well as that mature tree canopy to build off.”

The Crows had originally wanted an MCG-sized oval on Kings Reserve as part of the club’s proposed move from West Lakes.

Adelaide agreed mid-year to reduce the second oval to the minimum AFL training size requirement to ease community concerns, including around loss of trees.

The club, which hoped to start construction in the middle of next year and move in by early 2026, would initially have a smaller secondary oval on Kings Reserve then expand once transport department land near South Rd became available around 2031.

Dr Dawes said the resident group wanted the club to accept something less than what they had hoped, but more than it would have got if it had moved to Brompton, “with the opportunity to expand in 10 years without having decimated our community space in the meantime”.

Vision of the Adelaide Football Club’s proposed new training, administration and community precinct at Thebarton Oval. Picture: City Collective

As part of the precinct’s proposed redevelopment, 83 trees would be removed (10 on Kings Reserve, 73 on Thebarton Oval), while 220 new ones would be planted.

The 10 trees slated to be razed on Kings Reserve are no more than 30 years old.

A government spokesman did not directly answer questions about what commitment Koutsantonis had made to residents, what the Crows not amending their plans to save the trees would mean for state funding and what implications reducing the size of the second oval might have for AFL funding.

Instead, the spokesman said: “This (state government funding) commitment has been made on the basis that the project will provide significant benefits for the local and broader community”.

“There are a range of stakeholders involved and we continue to speak to all of them to ensure that these benefits are fully realised.”

At this month’s announcement, Crows chairman John Olsen told this masthead: “This decision and support from the government is the critical last step for us now to be able to proceed to deliver this project.”

The lease line needs to be agreed before the council enters into a formal lease agreement.