Greens fear MotoGP plan continues park lands ‘chainsaw massacre’
Tree loss, traffic gridlock and “a huge amount of money” are under fire from critics of the unveiled course plan, as the Motor Sport Board fronts parliament this morning.
SA Greens leader Robert Simms said the MotoGP Adelaide Circuit $96 million redevelopment plans released by the Premier on Sunday were his “worst fears realised”.
“This is going to swallow a huge amount of park lands and result in the destruction of hundreds of more trees on top of the chainsaw massacre we saw in North Adelaide when we had 583 on the chopping block,” Simms said.
On Monday morning, the South Australian Motor Sport Board will front a parliamentary committee including Greens MLC Melanie Selwood who says she has “tough questions” for the team behind the MotoGP plans that were announced yesterday.
Premier Peter Malinauskas revealed the Adelaide Circuit plans in a 64-slide presentation on Sunday, saying 377 trees would be removed, replaced on a ten-to-one basis, and come with a $15 million park lands support package.
He said there were currently 8,895 trees in the circuit precinct, and 95 per cent would remain “untouched” by the redevelopment.
A $15 million Adelaide Park Lands Nature Positive Package would also be delivered alongside the project, with funding including butterfly habitat restoration, support for the grey-headed flying fox and revitalising the River Torrens.
Both Simms and Liberal spokesperson Jack Batty pointed out that months ago, the earliest estimates from the government said 45 trees would be lost for MotoGP.
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“The Premier can spin it all he likes in darkened rooms doing his TED talk, but I think South Australians remember before the election, 45 trees were promised to be removed, the true number today is closer to 10 times that amount,” Batty said.
“I’ll have a look at what they’ve proposed, obviously, but I think this government really has made a mockery of any commitment to invest in the park lands or to protect the park lands.”
Simms said the plans would add to the “gridlock” Adelaide drivers already face during November’s bp Adelaide 500 race, and councillors had previously raised fears it would disrupt one of Adelaide’s most-used transport routes, the O-Bahn.
In Sunday’s announcement, Malinauskas said the government would minimise traffic impact where possible, and that the O-Bahn would remain open throughout all events.
The only O-Bahn closures flagged were for two working days for MotoGP and three working days for the Supercars.
The Adelaide Park Lands Association president Mat Monti said the plans were “significantly worse than many expected”.
“This is no longer about a temporary sporting event. It is about permanently transforming one of Australia’s most important heritage landscapes for an event that will be held for only a few days each year under an initial six-year contract,” Monti said.
“The release of these plans confirms what tens of thousands of South Australians have been saying for months; this race is in the wrong place.”
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Earlier this month, a petition led by Adelaide Park Lands protesters that amassed more than 40,000 signatures was tabled in parliament, triggering a parliamentary inquiry into the MotoGP and golf course plans.
Conservation Council CEO Kirsty Bevan backed the plans, saying her organisation pushed for changes, such as the tree replacements to be upped from three-to-one to ten-to-one, and that the result was “one of the largest investments in park lands in living memory”.
“Our message was clear: if this development was going to proceed, it had to deliver meaningful and lasting environmental benefits for the people of South Australia,” Bevan said.
The plans also included a number of upgrades to community works in the park lands, including a new 1.2 km unobstructed cycling loop and an enhanced east-west shared use path connecting the Burnside bikeway via the Grant Avenue signalised intersection with Halifax Street.
A five kilometre running track through the eastern park lands and new courts were also part of the works, all of which are subject to approval from Adelaide City Council.
Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said on Sunday that the council’s “interest in the MotoGP has always centred on understanding its impact on the Park Lands, city users, businesses and residents”.
“The City of Adelaide is, and always has been, a supporter of major events coming to our city,” she said.
“Finally, we have a design that we can look at and analyse so we can have that understanding. I am pleased that the Premier’s office has agreed to make senior officials available to brief our council as soon as possible.
“The next step for us for our administration is to do a proper analysis and provide robust advice so we can make informed representations to the state government during their consultation.”
The plans are open for public consultation until Sunday, September 20, and construction is due to begin in December.
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