Victoria Park Redevelopment

AdelaideNow... War of words over Victoria Park

THE Victoria Park redevelopment and the Adelaide parklands dominated discussion at a Lord Mayoral debate yesterday.


And the day after. And the day after that. This debate has been raging long and hard for nearly a year now. The grand stand plan ground to a grand halt and there was more angry debate. Emotions have run high and the feelings have been aired frankly and at times, quite rudely. Lord Mayor Harbison has just had to take it all on and wade his way through it all. To his credit , he has kept managing it , he has kept moving it forward. Today he was on radio and we have a Victoria Park grand plan to rival all Victoria grand plans. He sounds remarkably happy and calm. Remarkable because he must have taken quite a hammering this past year. So now the horses will be moved and the park will be developed in four quadrants. I'd like to see pictures. It sounds really good and it sounds so much better for those who had purchased the pricey units on East Terrace.Harbison was the one to propose the new grandstand and I think in his head he was thinking about getting Adealide a bit more up there and out there in terms of fancy facilities. He wasn't aware of the furore it would cause...but he has listened, learned and worked through every bit of it. I drive along that part of East Terrace where the grand stand is. It totally blocks views and would be something which would destroy the serenity of that end of town. Given there is a private hospital along there, the new ...brand new, redevelopment plan appears to be much better thought out and will provide us with useable spaces and an opportunity for the Clipsal to be a genuine part of our city instead of the temporary guest it has been.