South Australians encouraged to shape the future of Greater Adelaide

South Australians can have their say on how their State grows over the next 30 years as consultation on urban, land, and housing development through to the 2050s begins today.

The State Planning Commission has released the “Greater Adelaide Regional Plan Discussion Paper”, which provides a unique opportunity for the community to discuss the long-term planning vision and needs of Greater Adelaide.

Defined as the 11,000km² stretching from Cape Jervis to Murray Bridge and encompassing the townships of the Barossa and the boundary of Port Wakefield, approximately 85 per cent of the State’s population resides in the Greater Adelaide Region.

The Discussion Paper poses important questions for South Australians to consider and debate such as:

• where new housing and employment lands should be developed,
• how these homes should be serviced,
• how the State preserves its environmental assets,
• what major infrastructure will be required for future generations, and,
• how the State tackles the inevitable challenges of climate change, public space, and amenity whilst balancing pressures including affordability as the population grows.

The Discussion Paper’s release and its review of the development of Greater Adelaide occurs at a timely juncture for the State, with an estimated additional 300,000 homes needed over the next 30 years.

The Paper will require the consideration of:

• how the State’s planning system continues to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided seismic shocks to how people work and live,
• how the State’s planning system evolves following the normalisation of post pandemic habits and work practices such as work from home, public transport use and effects on the CBD amid the decentralisation of goods and services,
• the restructuring of household formation which places pressure on housing supply as “single-person households have increased by 78 per cent since the 1990s”, and,
• how it will deliver on the Malinauskas Labor Government’s ambitious economic agenda, underpinned by opportunities through the Hydrogen industry and the State’s need to deliver a skilled workforce capable of constructing works secured from the AUKUS Agreement.

The Malinauskas Government has also taken the opportunity to use the “Greater Adelaide Regional Plan Discussion Paper” to remove the former Government’s 85 per cent urban infill target, enabling South Australians to decide where in Greater Adelaide future South Australians will call home.

Recognition will also be given to the current growth constraints of the Greater Adelaide Metropolitan region – notably in the southern suburbs, where additional supply opportunities are only likely to be attained via the activation of urban centres or urban regeneration projects. The logical next parcels of land to be developed within the existing urban boundaries will also be highlighted.

New initiatives also floated for community consideration include the development of a new “Parklands for the North” designed to activate land currently not available for development. The proposal aims to deliver a green-urban-break protecting Gawler and the Barossa from unchecked urban growth.

The Discussion Paper factors in and builds on the fast tracking of the single largest residential land release in the State’s history earlier this year – set to deliver more than 25,000 more homes.

The release of the new “Greater Adelaide Regional Plan Discussion Paper” is the scheduled review and follows the release of the “30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide” in 2010 and subsequent 2017 update.

Copies of those respective reports are available here.

The Discussion Paper will be subject to a 12-week consultation period, with the feedback and responses provided to be presented to the Government for consideration as the “Greater Adelaide Regional Plan” is formulated for publication in the final quarter of next year.

Work also continues on the six regional plans covering the State’s regional communities, while work will recommence later this year on the Murray Lands Regional Plan, previously put on hold due to the River Murray floods.

Members of the public are encouraged to read the “Greater Adelaide Regional Plan Discussion Paper”, participate in the debate and provide their feedback by heading to plan.sa.gov.au/regional-planning-program.