Festival Plaza Code Amendment approved

The Festival Plaza Code Amendment has now been finalised and adopted by the Minister for Planning.

The South Australian Government reviewed the planning rules for Festival Plaza to ensure this prime location in Adelaide’s city centre provides the greatest benefits for the state and our community.

The Code Amendment provides clear building height and design guidance to ensure the remaining development site is maximised and Festival Plaza remains a world-class hub for the arts, culture, tourism and entertainment.

A change was made to the draft Code Amendment following feedback received from community, industry, local and state government and advocacy groups, with greater detail now provided in the Concept Plan.

This includes:

• specifying a minimum setback of 9 metres from Parliament House's northern façade to preserve its visual integrity and heritage value
• additional detail to preserve view lines to the Parliament House balcony and Aedicular Corner of classical columns and pilasters to maintain heritage prominence within Festival Plaza.

The draft planning rules came into effect on an interim basis at the same time as being released for consultation to ensure that any undesirable development applications were not submitted for this important precinct while the rules were reviewed.

The approved Code Amendment is anticipated to come into effect on 30 January when published on the PlanSA Portal.

The final Code Amendment and full engagement report can be viewed on the PlanSA website.