News

The Protect our Heritage Alliance presents a public forum on threats to our built and natural heritage protection under proposed new planning rules. This is your chance to find out what is really at risk with changes proposed by the State Planning Commission in the new Planning and Design Code.      Read More »

Changes to South Australia’s planning laws are causing widespread public concern about a loss of community rights, overdevelopment in a number of areas and diminished protections for our built heritage and natural environment. Policies being proposed for introduction under the State’s new Planning and Design Code have not been properly consulted upon and are not consistent with many of the stated objectives of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act (PDI […]  Read More »

Despite repeated denials and persistent misinformation from the State Planning Commission, the Local Government Association of South Australia (LGASA) has made clear its position that heritage protections would be weakened by the changes being proposed by the Commission.  Those working in local government have the most experience in working to protect our heritage.  The LGASA has criticised a lack of detail in policy proposals advocated by the Commission and called […]  Read More »

The State Planning Commission’s controversial proposals to slash South Australia’s heritage protections have raised great concern in the community. The Commission refuses to hold any public debate on the risks and costs of what it is proposing, saying it is not obliged to do so. However, it did offer to hold a Question and Answer session for the Community Alliance,  an umbrella organisation for local residents’ groups and invited them to […]  Read More »

Ask the Premier to stop this disaster from happening by strengthening our heritage protection system and not allowing it to be undermined by new planning rules. View and sign our online petition at change.org to protect South Australia’s heritage from demolition.  Read More »

After years of shadow boxing, the push to dismantle the state’s heritage protection system is moving full steam ahead under the planning laws introduced by the former Labour Government and blindly being implemented by the new Liberal Government.  A huge part of the state’s heritage is being offered up to developers through the removal of regulatory protections, including the rights of neighbours, councils and communities to object to unfettered new […]  Read More »

  Local Government has long played an important role in the protection of local heritage.  Because of recent  changes to planning laws which diminish community and individual input to planning and development decisions, we need Local Government representatives who will stand up to protect our heritage and give local communities a say in developments that affect them.  We aksed 536 candidates with email addresses listed on the Local Government Association website the […]  Read More »

Debates around heritage can often be polarising, with arguments for and against resulting in more heat than light. The former State Labor Government took an adversarial approach to heritage, with the former Planning Minister proposing a number of measures to dilute or remove heritage protections, pursuing a simplistic ‘pro-development, anti-heritage’ agenda. For the past 10 years, South Australia has lagged the rest of the country in investing in heritage conservation […]  Read More »

In February, the State Government’s secret plan to repeal Martindale Hall’s conservation park status and extinguish the charitable trust protecting the historic mansion and grounds was made public. Such a move opens the door to privatising this priceless public asset, gifted in trust for the people of South Australia by the University of Adelaide in 1986, continuing the spirit of the Mortlock family’s original bequest. If successful, the Government plan […]  Read More »

There has been a rash of bad architecture getting approval of late. This includes a recent proposal for a 34 story student accommodation tower on North Terrace which may be approved even though the state government’s own architect says this type of building does not belong there. Our beautiful heritage places and streetscapes are significantly compromised by these monstrosities which are knocked up for a quick buck to cash in on international […]  Read More »

More than 300 people attended the Valuing our Heritage forum at UniSA on 15 February. A panel of seven candidates and elected officials responded to a series of questions submitted by the public. Represented were the Liberals, Labor, Greens SA, SA Best, Australian Conservatives, Adelaide City Council  and Advance SA. The questions covered a number of key areas including why heritage is important, the Minister’s powers to delist provisionally listed State heritage places, how […]  Read More »

The Trust has previously reported on various policy and regulatory matters which will impact on local heritage protection and conservation. These include the roll out of South Australia’s new planning system. The Trust is concerned that under this system the fate of contributory items and historic conservation zones is unclear. In addition,  the community has fewer rights to participate in and challenge planning decisions. The new Community Engagement Charter is […]  Read More »

The National Trust is seeking national recognition for historic Fort Largs at Taperoo, one of the state’s most important military history sites. The Trust has nominated the Fort and the associated World War II buildings for national heritage listing, adding it to the list of more than 100 of the most important heritage places in Australia. The future of the Fort remains in limbo after plans for the redevelopment of […]  Read More »

More than 300 people attended the Valuing our Heritage forum at UniSA on 15 February. A panel of seven candidates and elected officials responded to a series of questions submitted by the public. The full video of the forum is here:    Read More »

Heritage is an election issue of interest to many people. The National Trust is convening a public forum to debate the risks and opportunities for our heritage with MPs and candidates from major parties invited to respond to your questions about heritage in a Q&A style format on Thursday 15 February at the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia from 6pm-7.30pm. Admission is free, but pre-registration is […]  Read More »

The Minister for Planning, John Rau, has declared that his controversial proposals to dismantle the state’s local heritage protection system will be put on hold until after the State election.  He is reported as saying he would not pursue changes to local heritage listing laws because of “limited parliamentary time” before the state election in March. The announcement coincided with yesterday’s official launch of the National Trust’s report on the […]  Read More »

In August last year the state Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure released an eight-page discussion paper that threatened to upset the entire system of local heritage protection. Many people objected not only to the provocative content, but to the ridiculously brief 4-week period allowed for public consultation. Under pressure, the department extended the deadline by four weeks. By 7 October nearly 200 submissions had been received from councils, residents’ […]  Read More »

A reprieve?  DAC asks developer for a better rationale for tree removal:  Advertiser story Update: Thanks to all who made today’s rally such a success: Advertiser story  ABC news As part of the redevelopment of the former Glenside Hospital site, developer Cedar Woods has lodged a development application to remove 83 significant and registered trees from the site.  This proposal flies in the face of assurances made at the time […]  Read More »

There has been little news about plans for the former Glenside hospital site since the announcement of the preferred developer in July.   But the latest is not good, especially for those who had trusted in the Government’s commitments for the site. Cedar Woods, the chosen developer, has lodged an application with the Development Assessment Commission for approval to remove 83 significant and regulated trees from the grounds.  This application […]  Read More »

The State Government is calling for public feedback on its recently announced plan for the future of the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site. On Sunday 27 November there is a community open day at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens on the Palm House Lawns from 11am- 3pm. The latest plans for the old Royal Adelaide are described by the Government as featuring: More than 2ha transferred to the Adelaide Botanic Garden […]  Read More »