Contentious $25m Hutt St upgrade backed by Adelaide City Council in win for traders
Hutt St traders have triumphed in their parking battle after Adelaide City Council rejected community consultation results to approve a $25m upgrade option.
Hutt St traders have won their battle to save parking spaces, with Adelaide City Council approving a revised $25m option to upgrade the business and hospitality strip.
At its meeting on Tuesday night, elected members voted 7:3 in favour of a revised Hutt St plan to retain 110 of 132 car parks and create a wider on-road bike lane with parking buffer.
The council administration recommended the revised Option B be approved, despite its own consultation finding the majority of 1039 respondents supported one of five other options.
More than 50 people packed the public gallery – a mix of residents, traders and cyclists – to hear the outcome of the contentious issue, which also attracted 10 deputations.
Hutt St Traders Association members and Hutt St Photos owner Alan Logue told the meeting Option B best balanced the needs of all involved and urged the council to make a decision.
“Traders need to be able to plan and have certainty when acute cost of living pressures are affecting everybody,” Mr Logue.
“Please lock it down and let us move on with our business plans.”
Daniel Gilli received an applause when rose at the meeting to speak in support of Option D – which would reduce carparks from 132 to 72 and limit traffic to one lane each way.
“It’s the only option that transforms Hutt into a people-focused main street,” Mr Gilli said.
“What really matters is not the number of car parks, but the number of people who can get to the street. I’d like to ask everyone not to think of those carparks as being lost, but being invested into wide open footpaths and safe cycling lanes.”
A 1814 signature-petition was also tabled – all but nine signatures in support of option B.
Cr Mary Couros said the street’s revitalisation had been “in the making for the past seven years” and it was clear Option B, which retained the most carparking, was the best option.
“In one of our city users profiles in 2022 … it found 44 per cent of people that come to the City of Adelaide use public transport, 34 per cent use a car, 19 per cent walk and two per cent use a bike,” Cr Couros told the meeting.
“So it will impact their businesses taking away carparks, it will destroy their livelihood.”
Cr Patrick Maher told the meeting Option B did not achieve the outcome of the revitalisation project to have wider footpaths and “I would rather spend $25m on literally anything else”.
Cr Maher and councillors Janet Giles and Phil Martin voted against the motion, while councillors Couros, Noon, Henry Davis, Mark Siebentritt, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Alfredo Cabada and Eleanor Freeman voted in favour.
In a statement following the meeting, Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said the approved concept would ensure Hutt St was “equitable” for all users.
“It has been somewhat of a journey to arrive here, but the reality is that with essential works due on Hutt Street, now is our opportunity to integrate renewal needs with the broader streetscape upgrade,” Dr Lomax-Smith said.
The council committed to doing the works incrementally to minimise disruption and undertake comprehensive engagement with stakeholders on how it affects day to day operations.
The concept would now commence to a detailed design phase, with construction expected to being in 2027.
Originally published as Contentious $25m Hutt St upgrade backed by Adelaide City Council in win for traders
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