Beer Garden

[shaun]

The thing that the Festival Centre desperately needs is for that ugly mural facing the Torrens to go, and be replaced by the same black, reflective glass at other facets of the centre. The mural cheapens the building and makes it look like a community or youth centre in a low-socioeconomic area.

Agreed entirely. Personally I love the Festival Centre and would hate to see demolished, though it does need a makeover.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet... sounds fantastic

House Lights by The Electric Canvas
Celebrating 40 years
Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre

FREE spectacle every night of June.

The artists from the internationally acclaimed Electric Canvas will illuminate the distinctive white roof of Adelaide's most iconic building.

The roof will become the canvas for a constantly changing palate of projections reflecting the spirit and essence of Adelaide Festival Centre's 40 fabulous years.

[monotonehell]

...Personally, I think it's one of Adelaide's iconic buildings...

First correct use of the word "iconic" on this website ever. You win the Internets, sir.

[rhino]

Why thankyou, Your Mono-Honour

[claybro]

The roof will become the canvas for a constantly changing palate of projections reflecting the spirit and essence of Adelaide Festival Centre's 40 fabulous years.

Cant this become a permanent feature...like the Rundle lantern.? Would look spectacular. And if they could add coloured waterfeatures in the torrens lake for a nightly show, would be quite a spectacle. Better than those gas flames outside Crown I reckon.

[stumpjumper]

I'd like to get a few things off my chest:

FIRST:

Did anyone else notice the manic demolition of trees along the Torrens this afternoon and evening?

I don't happen to have a problem with knocking trees over. They are a renewable landscape feature and resource. Nor am I complaining about the footbridge here.

I do have a problem with our government's tactics in the area of development. Deploying overwhelming force late on the Friday of a long weekend is a typically sneaky act by this government's cuuning advisers to 'beat the media cycle'.

This is on top of an unsuccessful attempt to avoid the planning process for the whole bridge project by adding 'footbridges' to the list of small domestic structures excused from the planning process on the grounds of triviality. Remember that the government would have avoided planning approval by calling the bridge a Major Project except that's outlawed in the Park Lands by the government's own Park Lands Act 2005.

Then, with the government already looking dodgy as for trying that stunt, the minister wraps the whole thing in a Ministerial DPA - no consultation, no appeals, game over.

Now, super-fast removal of trees using an army of hi-viz tree choppers on a busy Friday before a long weekend, when 90% of Adelaide's journalists are enjoying their free tickets to Womadelaide.

Public consultation on the footbridge proposal (ROFLMFAO), including the removal of trees, ends later this month.

No wonder people think DTEI/DPTI/LMC/Renewal SA play dirty, to put it mildly.

SECOND:

DTEI/DPTI/LMC/Renewal SA has stiffed the residents of Callington in the Adelaide Hills. Shat on them, in fact, almost literally.

The combined genius of Connor Holmes and ex-Minister Holloway didn't include a sewage treatment plant for the subdivision at Mount Barker that Holloway promised wouldn't be built until his advisers Connor Holmes and the advisers for the subdivision applicants, Connor Holmes, convinced him to approve the work.

Oh dear, what to do?

Easy. Approve a pipeline to pump the new subdivision's sewage over the hills and far away, to Callington, and there approve right next to the town a sewage treatment plant to be built by car-wash entrepreneur Tony Catalano and his family on some sort of BOOT scheme.

The new sewage treatment plant will have pride of place at the entrance to the town, right next to the sign that says 'Welcome to the Fleurieu Peninsula'.

Meanwhile, the households of Callington will stay on their individual septic tanks. It will be too expensive to process their sewage in the ugly treatment plant on their doorstep. Naturally, the townsfolk are very cross about this.

No matter, a Ministerial DPA will fix these pesky citizens. Hitler had his Führer Directives*; the DPTI cabal has its Ministerial DPAs.

Listen to ABC891 radio on Tuesday 12/3/13 between 9am and 11am. Some prick has stirred up the townsfolk and given the story to the media, complete with a list of angry interviewees.

*Führer Directives were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler. These instructions superseded laws of the German government as Hitler was considered to be above the law.

THIRD:

Why can't I tell my boss that I've taken another paid job for three days a week, but that I wanted to continue drawing my full time salary from my present employer, including my full superannuation benefits when I leave? This is exactly what Laughing Boy Conlon has done, and his boss, Jay Weatherill, has said it's a fabulous idea. After all, it's only money, and the state can borrow plenty of that.

[The Scooter Guy]

Annesley College in Wayville is now being demolished.

[monotonehell]

Ironically the school is being replaced with an aged care facility.

[claybro]

*Führer Directives were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler. These instructions superseded laws of the German government as Hitler was considered to be above the law.

Hitler? Really??? Come on now. The anti developement brigade overplayed it's hand when the Vic park grandstand was kyboshed. The government had egg on its face. Overnight, 100 years plus of horseraceing in the city went to dust (as has Victoria Park) prospects of twilight race meetings etc. and we now have the specture of months contruction of the temporary pit facilities. The days of open consultation and supposed public opinion died with that grandstand proposal, and the anti developement professional cryers have only themselves to blame. As for chopping down a few trees, at the rate the coucil lets them die in the our "iconic" parklands, they will not have a long lifespan anyway.

[stumpjumper]

It's a great site. I suppose the reason for redevelopment as aged care is to do with the church ownership. I would have gone for a mix of apartments.

Note the timber in picture 2. Reclaimed structural timber can now be can now be visually graded for re-use. The timber in that photo alone is worth hundreds of dollars, but it will be mulched at Wingfield and turned into fuel for the Cavan power station at a few dollars per tonne. The government won't support reclamation of timber for building because the practice reduces the sales of new timber. In Europe and the US, inventories are made of buildings for demolition in order to recycle as much as possible.

A few years ago, I offered the Dept of Mental Health and Substance Abuse several thousand dollars for the large cross section, 90 year old Oregon beams from the Glenside laundry building. My offer was refused, but I was able to film the crushing of the valuable timber into fuel mulch.

I took my case to the Minister for the Environment, and received the reply that the the timber had been 100% recycled as per government policy. I pressed further, and had an interview with a ministerial adviser who told me that the government's first priority was to back existing industries, and that the economics of burning thousands of dollars of seasoned timber in now unobtainable lengths and sections , and the replacement of that timber by the sale of new, imported engineered timber beams was sound and rational because it supported local business, while attaining the government target of 100% re-cycling.

On that basis, all re-use of any material in SA should cease immediately. Any usable 'used' material should be reduced to mulch or roadfill as appropriate. Our government is obviously the captive of sectional self-interests, whether union or industry based, which are violently opposed to re-use of materials.

[stumpjumper]

Read my post. I don't care about chopping down trees - they can be replaced.

I was in favour of racing continuing at VP too, preferably under better management than the dysfunctional, secretive SAJC which was comprised of thoroughbred owners whose primary concern is prizemoney. I agree that VP could have been the venue for at least fortnightly twilight races in a beautiful setting. Look at the success of Happy Valley, in the heart of Hong Kong.

As to your argument which is effectively that because a group opposed to the dual use redevelopment of VP won the day, then all future development in SA should without reference to the community it affects - no discussion, no appeal etc, I can only say it's hardly an argument.

The footbridge is proceeding without public consultation (the deadline for public input is late March, but the design is agreed and the work has begun), and without reference to the government's own Park Lands Authority (which was told that the decision had been made), Adelaide City Council (who deny responsibility for work within the 'declared zone' and without reference to Planning SA (who say that the project is being managed from the minister's office via Rod Hook at DP"TI).

My point was this: If you prefer development decisions to be made by ministerial decree (the Führer Directives) then fine. Let's disband the planning department, rescind the planning and development legislation and entrust the future built form of our city and state to an electrical engineer like Paul Holloway or a lawyer like John Rau (and of course to whatever powerful or wealthy interests can pull them one way or the other).

[claybro]

My point was this: If you prefer development decisions to be made by ministerial decree (the Führer Directives) then fine. Let's disband the planning department, rescind the planning and development legislation and entrust the future built form of our city and state to an electrical engineer like Paul Holloway or a lawyer like John Rau (and of course to whatever powerful or wealthy interests can pull them one way or the other).

And my poiny was, that these developements are all supported by the vast majority of the public.So there is no need to disband the planning department.They are just getting the job done. To a strict timefrme and budget. It has just got to the point in this state that even approved developements here are constantly being put at risk by the bleating and hand wringing of the usual few who continue to use every felled tree as a modern tragedy to the point where the general public, tired of the endless debtate get fed up and say "lets just leave it for now". That they need to move quickly and in the cover of night/weekend or invisability shield is a result of avoiding every little step becoming a political football, and this commenced with the Vic Park fiasco.

[monotonehell]

The problem with pointing to the Victoria Park experience, and attempting to prove any point by doing so, is that it is too complex to learn much from. There were many different hobby horses being ridden by many different interest groups, so we can't boil the situation down to prove anything much other than loud lobby groups can affect projects.

[stumpjumper]

Ummm... yes, ok, you say that all these projects have the overwhelming support of the public, so no public or local community consultation is required.

That suggests the question - how does the minister know that the overwhelming support is there? Is it because there has been no opposition?

What about the people of Callington. The development in Mt Barker overloads the sewage works there, so the Minister decreees that sewage from the development is to be piped to a new sewage works to be built at Callington.

The first Callington hears of this is the announcement. No consultation, no appeal etc. Just get it done. 70 locals spoke against the proposal at a self-convened public meeting which went on for 5 1/2 hours. Yet the project goes ahead.

It's not the substanvce of the isssue, it's the way it's being handled.

[claybro]

Stop the press!, An additional 20000 people require sewrage treatment?Who would have thought! Who in consultation would AGREE to a sewrage treatment plant in their backyard? No one. So what is the point of all this endless community consultation. For the last 30 years Mt Barker has been expanding, and will continue to do so. It needs to,as does Gawler because we still do not have adequate infill developements on release suitable for families. But you can be guranteed in this town, if we stop and condsider every community whim via consultation then we will be paralised. Time to stop the talking and consultation and political point scoring and just get on with the already approved developements.

[neoballmon]

Has Home hardware been sold off?
I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the Reynella store was being re branded as Mitre 10 and saw that the Aldinga store has been as well.
I know the Munno Para store has been abandoned for a long time, I assume due to the Bunnings nearby.
But I'm not able to think of any other stores off the top of my head.
Is this another medium sized brand been killed off by the big box retailers? God luck to Mitre 10 in their place!