Imagine a new tall building plonked on the Sydney Opera House forecourt, or in Melbourne’s fed Square on in Brisbane’s Botanic gardens. That’s the sort of thing Adelaidians are protesting about, a skyscraper in their Festival Plaza. The protest is led by St Peters Cathedral priest and former premier, Lynn Arnold. Here’s his speech, which contrasts the highlights of SA history with today’s low point of selling out the Adelaide parklands to corporate interests.
We are here today to say that neither the Parklands nor precious open space such as the Festival Plaza should be a land bank quarry.
Adelaide is a world-class city, not because it has lots of vacant land, but because it has a unique character. Our parklands are unique because they surround our CBD and the two North Adelaide satellites and they create an unparalleled ambience. And our parliament is unique because it was the first place in the world to grant non-property based franchise to all men indigenous as well as colonists. It was the first place in the world to grant women not only the vote, but the right to stand for parliament.
And it was the first place in the world to have the secret ballot. Now it is proposed that our parliament should be relegated to a shadow valley to be dominated, to be dominated by a tombstone territory of indifferent high rises that ought to be located on civic space.
I’m not opposed to skyscrapers per se, in the right place in the our square mile. The CBD has lots of suitable space for such buildings, which could in that space in enhance the skyline rather than blight it. And a blight is what is being proposed here.
Building the proposed tower behind this beautiful parliament would be a blight because firstly, it would swallow up public space, the Festival Plaza, a civic space and turn it over to office space. No, no space.
Our open spaces and Parklands should be for shared civic uses, not private.
The Tombstone Tower would also be a blight because it would block the majesty of the view. Northwards down King Willias Street over Parliament House, the Festival Centre, the Adelaide Oval, and St. Peter’s Cathedral.
And finally, in terms of being a blight, it would be an uninspiring addition to the Adelaide Streetscape. If Walker number one is anything to go by. Now, when they proposed Walker, number one, the images they gave looked much more interesting and attractive than what we got. So despite the fact that they’re putting interesting looking images about Walker number two, we can’t believe that that’s what would happen on the second tower.
It needs to be remembered that in 2014, the then Jay Weatherall Premier shifted the proposed tower to the West to assist with the heritage and Parliament House concerns. So that’s why it’s there and not in this proposed place.
Now another government, a labor government, is using the space created on heritage grounds to put up another multi-story tower there, totally detracting from the heritage concerns. That is not consistent good planning. It is not, I believe, above board planning behaviour.
No, we’ve seen, without knowing it, the selling of air rights above this space behind us, we’ve seen short-term notices about how much public consultation there can be. And that’s why you are here today because you feel you have not been heard before.
Good planning for our city would see plans to redevelop some of the indifferent buildings built in our CBD over the past 50 years. Agree. I know that the Premier talked about the fact that this Tombstone Tower would block the view from that. [Points across North Terrace to some poor quality buildings.] Well, that is a great place for redevelopment, not behind us.
So over those last 50 years, he’s in different buildings and not used prized civic space where a revitalised Festival Plaza could truly become a vibrant space shared by the whole community.
The crank [the Crown and anchor pub] was saved. Now it’s time to save Festival Plaza and the Parklands. Stop the tombstone tower. Don’t create a shadow valley. Don’t treat our valuable public space as no more than a land bank quarry.
An open letter from the Save Festival Plaza Alliance also includes Archdeacon Peter Sandeman AM, former mr CEO Anglicare SA among the signatories
Image: Lynn Arnold speaks at the protest