Sensational-Adelaide.com

rev wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 08, 2023 11:27 am

Apparently they've decided to build the police barracks/horse stables elsewhere now.

SA government backs down from plan to house Mounted Operations Unit in Adelaide parklands
By Joshua Boscaini
Posted 2h ago2 hours ago, updated 1h ago

SA Police's Mounted Operations Unit will move to Adelaide Airport to make way for the new Women's and Children's Hospital, with the state government backing away from plans to house the stables in the Adelaide parklands.

Premier Peter Malinauskas said the state government has entered into an agreement with Adelaide Airport to relocate the unit from its current location at the Thebarton Barracks to airport land.

"The new location of the Mounted Operations Unit won't be on Adelaide's parklands, but instead is set to be at Adelaide Airport with a separate new staging facility to be in the Adelaide CBD," he said.

The staging facility will be located on a vacant block of land on Wright Street in Adelaide's CBD — behind the Supreme Court building — which is owned by the state government.

The plan to move the unit to the Mirnu Wirra/Park 21 West faced opposition from critics, including Adelaide's Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith, who argued it would "lock away" parks for growing communities in Wayville and Unley.

"I'm really proud of the fact that we've arrived at an outcome here that will accommodate the legitimate concerns of many within our community but at the same time deliver SAPOL what they need to deliver a safe community in terms of the Mounted Operations Unit," Mr Malinauskas said.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the Wright Street staging area will allow horses and officers to patrol the CBD on any given shift.

"The staging area is also an important aspect for us in terms of being able to bring police officers in from other locations to service other events and activities that occur in the CBD," Commissioner Stevens said.

"We believe we can come up with an effective operating model now based on these decisions to move out of the parklands and the preferred sites that are being assessed now will give us that ability to maintain that level of service."

Commissioner Stevens said horses will be floated in from the airport site to the staging area for their respective shifts and will be able to rest at the open air stables.

Ms Lomax-Smith said she was "delighted" the state government had decided to move the Mounted Operations Unit elsewhere.

"We particularly value the parklands at the moment because we're going through a housing boom in the city," Ms Lomax-Smith said.

"We're going to have more and more people living in our city and we do need to have access to space.

"So this to me seems like a win-win situation for everyone."

A landmark development site in Adelaide’s biomedical precinct has hit the market as part of a receiver sale of properties once controlled by “carpark king” Damian Lester.

Mr Lester lost control of the flagship site in his crumbling property portfolio last month as creditors ramped up their bid to recover tens of millions of dollars in unpaid debts.

Stretching across 4715sq m, and with a further 278sq m of air rights, the offering is described by selling agents as “Adelaide’s most iconic privately owned healthcare development site”.

The carpark and development land wraps around the historic Newmarket Hotel site on the corner of North Tce and West Tce, which was sold to health, wealth and care services giant Australian Unity for $38.5m last month.

SRW wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2023 6:58 pm

Worth noting that the government just bought the West End brewery land for $68 million, but is on track to spend more than $114 million relocating the police barracks. And yet we're supposed to believe that the parklands location is the best and only option for the nWCH, when it is neither more cost effective or able to interconnect with RAH.

ChillyPhilly wrote:

SRW wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2023 6:58 pm

Worth noting that the government just bought the West End brewery land for $68 million, but is on track to spend more than $114 million relocating the police barracks. And yet we're supposed to believe that the parklands location is the best and only option for the nWCH, when it is neither more cost effective or able to interconnect with RAH.

This whole saga has been a farce. The dream outcome would be nWCH on the site around Newmarket Hotel/old HQ, the West End site for a high-density and transit-oriented affordable housing development, and the greys retained at their current site with some work done to improve the surrounds and connecting Parklands.

The only winner in it all is a populist faction or individuals of the State Government who have forced through the selected location for the nWCH.

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:43 am

SRW wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2023 6:58 pm

Worth noting that the government just bought the West End brewery land for $68 million, but is on track to spend more than $114 million relocating the police barracks. And yet we're supposed to believe that the parklands location is the best and only option for the nWCH, when it is neither more cost effective or able to interconnect with RAH.

This whole saga has been a farce. The dream outcome would be nWCH on the site around Newmarket Hotel/old HQ, the West End site for a high-density and transit-oriented affordable housing development, and the greys retained at their current site with some work done to improve the surrounds and connecting Parklands.

The only winner in it all is a populist faction or individuals of the State Government who have forced through the selected location for the nWCH.

rev wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 1:29 pm

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:43 am

SRW wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 26, 2023 6:58 pm

Worth noting that the government just bought the West End brewery land for $68 million, but is on track to spend more than $114 million relocating the police barracks. And yet we're supposed to believe that the parklands location is the best and only option for the nWCH, when it is neither more cost effective or able to interconnect with RAH.

This whole saga has been a farce. The dream outcome would be nWCH on the site around Newmarket Hotel/old HQ, the West End site for a high-density and transit-oriented affordable housing development, and the greys retained at their current site with some work done to improve the surrounds and connecting Parklands.

The only winner in it all is a populist faction or individuals of the State Government who have forced through the selected location for the nWCH.

Why would the old HQ/New Market be the dream site for the nWCH?

SBD wrote:

rev wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 1:29 pm

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:43 am

This whole saga has been a farce. The dream outcome would be nWCH on the site around Newmarket Hotel/old HQ, the West End site for a high-density and transit-oriented affordable housing development, and the greys retained at their current site with some work done to improve the surrounds and connecting Parklands.

The only winner in it all is a populist faction or individuals of the State Government who have forced through the selected location for the nWCH.

Why would the old HQ/New Market be the dream site for the nWCH?

It would have been easy to provide all-weather secure connection over or under North Terrace to connect the Women and People hospitals when required for complex cases, and to be able to use either hospital as surge overflow in extreme circumstances for the other. There's two thoughts in favour of the North Terrace site.

The further down Port Road the nWCH concept moved, the less convincing the "co-located" concept became.

SBD wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 7:22 pm

rev wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 1:29 pm

ChillyPhilly wrote: ↑

Wed Sep 27, 2023 11:43 am

This whole saga has been a farce. The dream outcome would be nWCH on the site around Newmarket Hotel/old HQ, the West End site for a high-density and transit-oriented affordable housing development, and the greys retained at their current site with some work done to improve the surrounds and connecting Parklands.

The only winner in it all is a populist faction or individuals of the State Government who have forced through the selected location for the nWCH.

Why would the old HQ/New Market be the dream site for the nWCH?

It would have been easy to provide all-weather secure connection over or under North Terrace to connect the Women and People hospitals when required for complex cases, and to be able to use either hospital as surge overflow in extreme circumstances for the other. There's two thoughts in favour of the North Terrace site.

The further down Port Road the nWCH concept moved, the less convincing the "co-located" concept became.