The Plan for Greater Adelaide 2009-2038

•The disjunction between the details of the draft plan released for comment by the Minister and planning principles expounded in the same document is breathtaking.•The justification of the plan is based on a set of highly debatable threats and claims that are unhelpful, unsubstantiated and are based on an unjustified premise of rapidly increasing population.•Reasoning individuals expect there to be congruity in a plan

Contradictions with planning aims

1/ ‘The protection of high value primary production lands’ … when clearly

• the foreshadowed rezoning of some of the State’s best agricultural land will see it completely removed from primary production.

• the lost agricultural production will reduce State productivity, exports and food security

Contradictions with planning aims

2/ ‘To contain the growth of residential, industrial and commercial activity to areas suitable for urban development’ …..when

• a/ the proposed Gawler East development, if approved, would encroach on quite steeply sloping ground adjacent to watercourses, making proper protection of the Gawler River’s water quality impossible and would increase fire risk to the residential development.

• b/ A new suburb is planned at sea level west of Mawson Lakes when the British National Oceanography Centre recently released modelling that points to the real possibility of sea rise of 1.6 metres by 2100

Sea level could rise by 1.6 metres this century UK National Oceanography Centre (2009)

Contradictions with planning aims

3/ ‘To keep urban form more compact’

• When the plan would massively increase the physical size of Adelaide

Contradictions with planning aims

4/ ‘To drive sustainability and resilience to climate change’ ….when it is clear that a/ increasing the population of Gawler ultimately to more than twice its current size that of the Barossa/Gawler area by some 140,000 and that of Greater Adelaide by 560,000, with all the associated infrastructure, is going to drive climate change and lower the region and the planet’s sustainability, whatever mitigating measures may be put in place in the region

Contradictions with planning aimsb/ recently introduced planning arrangements for

approval of development applications have weakened controls governing the efficiency of new buildings in Gawler which previously had the capacity to strongly encourage passive solar design. The suburban development in Gawler’s New Southern Areas which are about to be re-zoned will have no significant energy efficiency requirements and will largely be barely insulated homes with no eaves, ready to consume bulk electricity for both heating and cooling.

c/ water re-use has also been left low in priorities compared with massive investment in desalination plants that will increase SA electricity consumption by 30-40%, further driving climate change

Contradictions with planning aims

5/ ‘Reduce the rate of growth of GHG emissions and prepare to adapt to likely impacts of climate change’

This statement enshrines growth when the world knows that CO2 levels need to be reduced (and when the Government’s own aims call for a reduction of gross emissions)

Evidence-based planning If the characteristics of the plan for Greater Adelaide hadbeen expressed honestly and logically it would have madeit more defensible. The justification of the plan is based ona set of highly debatable threats like:• ‘if this plan is not accepted the region won’t be in a

position to take full advantage of opportunities as the economy moves out of global downturn’

• ‘There will be insufficient housing for older people and couples without children’

Both claims are unhelpful, unsubstantiated and are based on an unjustified premise of rapidly increasing population. Many countries in Europe (eg Denmark) have demonstrated prosperity without significant population growth and without significant increases in GHG emissions.

Food and water• Whilst much is made of the energy-intensive

desalination plant south of Adelaide to enable the mooted population expansion, there is minimal discussion about the provision of water or nutrients for agriculture, so that SA can restore its surface waters and aquifers to sustainable levels and provide adequate food for our people.

• Last year Australia became a net food importer, not a good position, as viably-recoverable world oil and phosphorus reserves (vital to agricultural production as both fuel and fertiliser) are falling rapidly and are likely become critical during the course of the Plan.

BP survey of world oil production potential Peak Oil

Food and water• Waste water (storm, grey and black) can be used for food

production either in gardens or farms. There is no point pumping it elsewhere when it is needed in the city as food, so it should be recycled and much of it used on prime agricultural land, permanently zoned for urban food production within Greater Adelaide.

• These areas must be subject to protected rates for urban agriculture or the rateable land values will drive serious food producers away.

• In major developments such as are proposed for Gawler it would be logical for the public utility (SA Water and associated others) to be involved in a regional recycling plant for sewage which could be used for agriculture in our Green belt as well as in urban situations (gardens, playing fields etc).

• With an uncertain future for the Murray and aquifers in poor shape, water is a limiting factor to growth that deserves recognition

• These basic sustainability issues need to be addressed in the Plan for Greater Adelaide.

Passive-solar design harvests the sun’s energy through windows during winter and excludes the sun in summer

Shelter

• Adelaide uni used a typical project home in the northern suburbs to assess the effects of orientation and appropriate shading. The poorest star rating for the house was 4.4 when it faced west with no shading and the best performance 5.2 stars when it faced north representing a 27% saving in the consumption of energy to retain the standard comfort levels

• Including 800mm eaves and commercially available Australian double glazed windows (U 2.03) showed that a star rating of 6.7 was achievable. This is without any other alterations to the fabric of the building such as internal pelmeted curtains, enhanced insulation, adjustable shade, weather strips etc

• New Zealand has successfully introduced the mandatory use of double glazing in new homes to significant effect.