Adelaide City Council pushes ahead with controversial proposal to transform road west of Light Square into green space

After a fiery debate, Adelaide City Council has voted to move to the next stage in cutting lanes from Light Square, ignoring 800 people who oppose it.

Light Square would lose multiple lanes in the proposed redevelopment. Picture: Brenton Edwards

• Own a car? You’re ‘not welcome in the city’

Adelaide City Council has rejected a call to pause its controversial reimagining of Light Square after a councillor collected more than 800 signatures opposing the project.

Henry Davis presented the petition to the council’s chief executive on Tuesday before proposing an amended motion calling to halt the project until councillors debated it at a workshop.

The bold plan would turn the area west of Light Square into green space except for a small slip lane, while the road east of Light Square would become a two-way street.

“We went out to consultation in relation to the draft Light Square masterplan and, on the face of it, there seemed to be quite strong support,” Mr Davis said at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

“However, there were significant flaws in that consultation. A lot of the negative things about the proposal were not explained to our ratepayers.”

He said he had counted 814 signatures opposing the project, which he collected together with LimeSquare Cafe, on the east of Light Square.

LimeSquare Cafe owners Peter and Antoniette Domhoff, who aren’t happy with the proposal. Picture: Brenton Edwards

The council previously surveyed fewer than 300 people on the idea. Seventy-nine per cent supported it, and 11 per cent supported a second option to retain the western road while reducing parking and street lanes.

During an almost hour-long debate on Tuesday, Deputy Mayor David Elliot said pausing the project to hold a workshop would be a “complete waste of time” because it would delay a crucial traffic impact study needed to inform more discussion.

Mr Davis’ amendment failed, with seven councillors voting against and four in favour.

Councillors instead noted the results of its original survey, paving the way to progress with costing, a traffic study and finalising the masterplan, which needs further approval.

He has previously said the council was waging a war on cars.

Dr Sara Norton, a regular patient at Brain Injury SA on the east side of Light Square, told The Advertiser she feared the clinic’s parking would be axed under the proposal.

She and her husband, both who have disabilities, attend the clinic at least once a fortnight, relying on the disability parking at Light Square because of her limited mobility.

A spokesman for the council would not rule out removing parking spaces on the east, but said: “It is premature to speculate on the availability of parking within Light Square while the master planning process is at such an early stage.”

Light Square businesses including LimeSquare Cafe, TGB Lawyers and four more that did not wish to be named told The Advertiser they have significant concerns about the proposal.

The council has spent $90,000 out of $250,000 allocated for the 2024/25 financial year to produce the masterplan.

Originally published as Adelaide City Council pushes ahead with controversial proposal to transform road west of Light Square into green space