Responding to Fresh concerns council election could be tainted by voter fraud

Maybe we should appoint an interim administrator until the government can provide legitimate voting? – Bill Hecker, Forrestville

Responding to Dilapidated King’s Head Hotel sold to SA family business

The disappointingly destroyed King’s Head site would have been a more appropriate location for the planned development over the Cranker or the requested development behind the Cumby – seeing as that live music venue is already kaput. – Tony Dawkins

Responding to Student housing isn’t the problem, it’s the solution

So, Torie Brown is irritated by Stewart Sweeney’s article on the planned student accommodation tower on North Tce and accuses him of missing the point.

She doesn’t seem to understand that the point he is making is about  “what happens when the future of a city is outsourced to developers and dressed up as educational progress”.

She doesn’t seem to understand that Sweeney is clearly and articulately using this development to illustrate what he believes is typical of where we are headed: “a property developer state, where public interest is repackaged as private opportunity, where scale replaces soul, and where real planning is buried beneath glossy renders and deal-making”.

I learnt a new word this week: quockerwodger. It derives from a term of the 1860s for a type of wooden puppet. In politics, it has apparently come to describe politicians directed more by an influential third party rather than diligently representing constituents. And who is pulling the strings in South Australia? How about:

• The Walker Foundation
• The AFL
• Motorsport
• LIV Golf/Saudi Arabia
• The Property Council

And who is Torie Brown? Torie Brown is the executive director of the Student Accommodation Council. And what is the Student Accommodation Council? A Division of the Property Council. Funny about that. – Barbara Fergusson

Torie Brown, Executive Director of the Student Accommodation Council — a division of the Property Council of Australia — offers a predictably industry-aligned defence of high-rise Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in Adelaide. It’s her job. But let’s not mistake promotional imagery and industry-funded research for urban truth.

I’ve walked through these buildings — not always easily. Their foyers are sterile and largely empty, their security systems complex and alienating. Once inside, the facilities vary, but they’re sealed off from the surrounding city — vertical silos, not integrated communities.

You might like

Opinion

Two years later and a $125m mental health gap persists

Opinion

The rental crisis is locking out a generation

Let me be clear: I’m not against students (I am one), and I’m not against safe, well-designed housing. But PBSA should not be a Trojan horse for poor planning and unchecked height. These towers aren’t civic housing; they’re asset-class investments, designed to maximise yield, not social integration or affordability.

Imagine instead a genuine student district: mid-rise, courtyard-based housing woven into the fabric of Adelaide — where students live among cafes, clubs, libraries and neighbours. A key part of the Adelaide difference and not driven by the dictates of the Sydney-based Property Council. That vision is slipping away as planning policy bends to developer logic. And the more we build up, the more we lose touch with the street — with the very places students come to connect with, not just sleep above.

There are alternatives. Governments, universities and community housing providers could deliver affordable, medium-density student homes near campuses. But that takes civic will — and a planning system that serves the public, not just the speculative.

Let’s not build a city that students pass through. Let’s build one they can belong to. – Stewart Sweeney

Responding to Millions in extra funding for Whyalla Steelworks

Predictable cost overrun on the rescue package, and likely not the last injection of extra funding. What is concerning is that the investment does not guarantee a long-term profitable future for the Whyalla steelworks. Its location and lack of access to affordable energy mean it will struggle to ever become competitive. – Paul Venables

You might like

Opinion

Two years later and a $125m mental health gap persists

Opinion

The rental crisis is locking out a generation

Responding to Tributes flow for stalwart ABC journalist

Loved Peter’s reporting. Thank you for paying tribute to the great career of a journalist who was the consummate professional. – Annie Pook

Responding to How many international students is too many?

Australia’s international student program is a backdoor to help young people from overseas countries migrate to Australia. The main goal is to stay in Australia. Most of them end up working at a lower level than their qualifications entitle them to, perhaps due to language difficulties.

With Albanese allowing 550,000 extra migrants into Australia, perhaps you could look at how this high migration intake is putting pressure on infrastructure such as hospital services (ramping), roads and our inability to build enough houses to cater for demand. – Evonne Moore

Responding to The Late Show axed after more than three decades

The greatest comedian of our time. To leave television is an absolute crime to all of humanity.

Colbert is clearly loved and respected for his craft and is leagues ahead of the comical pack. We love him and the show formats and would do whatever it may take to keep the show going and progressively deliver some of the funniest live television ever seen. Come on, just don’t do the dumbest thing ever. We all need comic medicine. – Nicola Paoletti

Responding to Algal bloom crisis to go under Senate microscope

A Senate Enquiry on the toxic algal bloom is welcome. Financial assistance to affected businesses and communities will give short-term relief.

However, our society must recognise that there are limits to growth and that collective humanity has caused this disaster through climate change. We should be thinking long-term for the good of the environment. – Stephen Morris, Christies Beach

Responding to From Trinity Tower to a true student district: Adelaide must choose its future

What a beautifully envisioned and balanced article. Thank you to the writer for explaining what is happening, why it is a problem, and indeed what could be done to address it and make our city a beautiful place for students, residents and visitors. Yes, yes, yes to becoming more like Bologna, Kyoto, Oxford!! I moved to Adelaide from Melbourne, which is chock-full of tiny, empty student apartments that no one wants to live in – not even students!!! Why should student housing be so uninspiring and tiny? Do international students come to Adelaide to live in a tiny box with a bed and desk? No!! They will come for the neighbourhoods; to experience the Australian lifestyle and work nearby. It would be an absolute tragedy for beautiful Adelaide if we continue down this path. Thanks for the inspiring article – more please. – Kim Webber, Adelaide

Really so negative on progress and a little bit of small country town mentality from the author of this article. Like it or not, cities need to innovate, adapt and reinvent themselves to maintain and grow their populations. For so many decades, Adelaide has done the small country town thing. Lots of NIMBYS and naysayers are complaining and stopping any new ideas, and the youth are moving away to places that are more open-minded to change and innovation. Finally, we have a premier who is not a hundred years old, with energy and new ideas, who is trying to get things done, and in true Adelaide fashion, we will cut the tall poppy down.

If you walk the streets of Melbourne you would realise international students bring cities to life, and are a positive to a city as Asian students like to live in high density cities where they can go out the front door and something is open, the streets are lit up and buzzing, and there’s a night time economy which benefits us all. Population density brings that. High-rise student towers contribute to that by providing workers to do the jobs Aussies will not do, and they spend money in the economy.

Not to mention, extra housing built in a housing crisis somehow being a negative. Obviously, you have a house and aren’t looking to buy one, Mr Sweeney. I have a mortgage, but I do worry if my kids will at this rate. Now is not the time to squabble over what’s getting built, where or how big. That’s how we got into this mess. We need to build, build and guess what, build. The premier understands that. Some of us still need persuasion. Now’s the time to lead, follow or get out of the way, or the next generation of Australians will have the highest rates of homelessness Australia has ever seen. – Andrew Dixon

A very good article about a university town to be designed and not put together on a computer with pre-digested ideas on the screen. Developers are hardly “cultural” identifiers; they are interested in $. Why not send them to places like Oxford, Copenhagen, Zurich, etc, etc, to study student requirements, student environment, friendly learning… I would not study here. There are better places and universities in the world. Most universities now teach in English and won’t be a handicap for students if they go to a non-English-speaking country. Students in student-friendly universities are not seen as commodities, numbers with $ signs behind their names. Adelaide is slowly sinking into a developer’s dump with characterless buildings and an environment. To finish this off, students in other countries are far better off being supported financially, in housing and cost of living. – Michael

Totally agree with Mr Sweeney’s article. It suggests a human scale of development that people want and ultimately is more valuable. I know politicians are keen to “do something”, and some developers are only too pleased to provide a big dollar announcement.

Why can’t we have decent planning in this city? It can be done as illustrated by the cities Mr Sweeney has referred to. – Peter Fairlie-Jones

Agree with the sentiments in this article wholeheartedly. Adelaide had the opportunity to model on liveable European cities with low-rise charm, but instead equates high-rise with progress! How much more student accommodation does Adelaide need? – Patricia Roche

We couldn’t agree more with Stewart Sweeney’s article! It is said superbly and to the point! There is serious concern amongst people we know about the rapid changes to the park lands, our inner historical city precinct, including the university, with our oldest churches, e.g. Trinity Church, and the beautiful vista of our city as seen from the hills surrounding the plains. The people of Adelaide and South Australia have a right to keep their heritage, which was passed down from Colonel Light, to be preserved for future generations, and it is unique.

Our green park lands and river are the lungs of the city that provide free and open recreation space for all people, and should never be built upon and destroyed. They are now being eaten away and restricted under big public building projects. Cities and towns preserve their inner historical precincts all over the world, and still grow and prosper, melding the old with the new. As described in the article, attractive modern planning and building, providing a functional, livable and thriving environment for the population (university students and general communities) can be done respectfully, without building a forest of huge skyscrapers.

Malinauskas and his government clearly have no respect for this city and the heritage of its people, many of whom have long ancestry associated with the city, instead chasing and allowing “big money” events and building Trump-style ugly metal and glass skyscraper developments to crowd out and ultimately destroy the heart of the city like malignant weeds! What moral right do this premier and his government have to do this to our capital city, with speed and without proper consultation? Yes, Adelaide must choose its future by the fully informed people of South Australia, not land-grabbing real estate developers! – Georgina and Kim Raddon

Responding to Why has it taken so long for authorities to take Housing Trust concerns seriously?

I read this article with growing anger, as this could have been written about myself and my street.

The issues raised in this article, facing Jan and John Beasley, are eerily familiar to what my family, neighbours and I have also been facing for over ten years now.

We live opposite a set of four Housing Trust homes in Nailsworth, as well as four more in the street behind us.

Over the 10 years we have lived here, we too have endured tenants ranging from members of bikie gangs to drug dealers, drug abusers, victim of domestic violence, perpetrators of domestic violence, violent people, abusive people, guests of the tenants being disruptive, prostitution, property damage, and people who steal and do not care for their property.

We also have police officers on speed dial and have met with Nick Champion to plead our case.

We endure weekly, sometimes daily, visits from police and ambulances and are unable to sleep at night due to the disruption these tenants cause.

We have also lived through an attempted 3am home invasion by a ‘guest’ of one of the tenants who was being chased by drug dealers – so he decided to try and enter our home for safety.

We have had armed gangs try to smash their way into properties, prostitution from the last tenant, theft of property and bikes. Our street has been placed into lockdown multiple times. Tenants have also set their homes on fire while making drugs.

We are threatened regularly, abused and screamed at. I’ve had male tenants expose themselves to me, and our children are fearful to even walk down the street to catch the bus.

The only thing more frustrating than this behaviour is dealing with the Housing Trust. I cannot tell you how many calls and emails have been sent to them, from multiple neighbours asking, pleading for help. We installed video cameras (on their advice, as I was told I had to capture direct video evidence), which put me in harm’s way, and even though I provided multiple video evidence, police call-out numbers, detailed dates, and times of incidents, I was constantly fobbed off, lied to, and ignored.

It wasn’t until I enlisted the help of Lucy Hood and met with the Minister for Housing that we started to get anywhere and be taken seriously. This took time and the persistence of my neighbours and me at much cost to my mental health.

It is clear that there are major failings in the Housing Trust and its systems. They place more value on the rights of these disruptive and violent tenants than on our right to feel safe in our homes. We still have a tenant who is mentally unstable, who has threatened a mother of two young children, who has been placed under a psychiatric hold, who we have video footage of showing him standing at the back of their property, putting his hand threateningly slashing his throat, whilst looking at the camera, all told as evidence to the Housing Trust. He is still there. They have moved out for their safety and mental well-being, as have two other residents, as they can no longer endure this behaviour.

We do not feel that we should have to leave. We also did not ask for this and should not be made to keep enduring this behaviour. We know there are good people out there who deserve homes, but we cannot keep living with the behaviour of tenants who are so violent, they should not and cannot be placed into residential areas.

The Housing Trust has a lot to answer for, and we would like to see real policy change. As I know, this is happening across SA, to many, many people. – Stasi Vigor, Nailsworth