News & Discussion: Planning Issues & Challenges

[Howie]

Too right Nigel, self-deprecating is exactly what it is - apologizing to eastern seaboard neighbours for our city should be banned, yet it happens all the time by Adelaidians.

[Will]

One of the biggest perpetrators of denigrating our city is the Advertiser itself. How many times do you read: "little old Adelaide", "Adelaide is so laid back", "In Adelaide there is only one degree of separation" and so on...

If the Advertiser is serious about this, they should for one, ban their journalists from using such negative comments. In fact the journalists working there should be under threat of being fired if they use such negative and self-depreciating language.

[Howie]

Agreed, although some journalists at the tiser aren't too bad.. paul starick for example, his articles are noticably upbeat while others are just down right depressing. We would say they need a bit of consistency, they would probably argue we need some journalistic balance. But they don't see the untold damage they are doing.

p.s. sent an email to Nigel, commending him on his comments, hopefully we can be of some assistance in his campaign.

[stelaras]

bloody good article!!

there should me more of this type of reporting

[Cruise]

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

sorry to sound like a negative Nancy but is that sort of growth achievable?

you cant tell me you can keep up with infrastructure at that rate

but hey, the more the merrier

[Brando]

Very exciting article and attitude. Let's get on with it and do what we need to do. I have been saying it for years now, build the city for the future generations as they are the states future. Oldies, Nimby's etc can leave. We have all had enough and now is our turn to shine. These people complaining are always the first to put down Adelaide when their children or grand children leave due to lack of excitment or opportunities. Create a fun, vibrant city that is alive. We are on the right track now, so let's not stop and think it's going to happen now, keep at it, do better and work out how we can do even better again next time.

Time for Adelaide to think big and stop thinking we are down the list in the 'pecking order', so it can't happen here.

Everyone is right too, these articles are what we need. I'm pumped and excited by reading that....

[Howie]

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

sorry to sound like a negative Nancy but is that sort of growth achievable?

you cant tell me you can keep up with infrastructure at that rate

but hey, the more the merrier

You get more people to fill the jobs, which in turns feeds our local economy which in turns results in more tax for the government, which means more infrastructure for more people to fill jobs, which in turns feeds.... etc. It's a chicken and egg scenario. Worry about getting the people here first, instead of losing them interstate.

[Bulldozer]

Mr McBride, who is chief executive partner with legal firm Minter-Ellison, predicts Adelaide will need 500,000 more people in five years to cope with the impending economic boom.

sorry to sound like a negative Nancy but is that sort of growth achievable?

you cant tell me you can keep up with infrastructure at that rate

You get more people to fill the jobs, which in turns feeds our local economy which in turns results in more tax for the government, which means more infrastructure for more people to fill jobs, which in turns feeds.... etc. It's a chicken and egg scenario. Worry about getting the people here first, instead of losing them interstate.

I think the point is that getting that many people here means growth about 10x as much as current. I'm not being a pessimist here, but that is simply unachievable unless you want to have all these people living in shanty towns while everything else catches up. And then what happens after the big boom is over? Steady and consistent growth is best for everyone.

McBride is dead-right about the marketing though. I think BHP have a great slogan for ODX in "Be part of something bigger" - SA should adopt that. It says growth, opportunity, excitement. "A brilliant blend" doesn't say that - good for tourism, but not for attracting people to live and work.

[skyliner]

Absolutely correct. This is what produces vision, excitement, possibility thinking, action and growth.

An attitude that we can't do it, this is not Adelaide, it's just a country town, apathetic plattitudes etc etc will only create more of the same. I have never viewed Adelaide in any of these ways. Certainly is'nt 'liitle ol' Adelaide' in the shaows of the east - the potential IS there to be grasped and run with.

SA great is perhaps something of the start of that vision. It often has to start with rhetoric, but we have a reason to be excited. Lets go for it with both hands.

Sorry guys, I get going on this sort of thing. It presses buttons when people bag Adelaide.I see the possibilities.

[Mants]

there's still one degree of separation

its a good thing though!

[SRW]

There's no point nitpicking every decision that the Government does or doesn't make, let's just get on with it

There's nitpicking and than there's legitimate and due process. I'm started to become quite concerned by comments in some forums on this website and, indeed, in the media, that view everything of as the former. But that's really just an aside...

[AG]

Kennett calls for Adelaide vision
LAINIE ANDERSON
April 20, 2008 12:30am
JEFF Kennett, the man credited with transforming Melbourne, has urged South Australians to put aside their differences and adopt a bold, long-term vision for Adelaide.

The former Victorian premier – architect of major projects such as Docklands, Federation Square and CityLink – predicts SA will become an economic powerhouse in coming decades, and says it's time for Adelaide to become a confident, modern metropolis.
"I absolutely believe that by 2030 there is a very real chance that South Australia will be one of the high-speed economic states of Australia," Mr Kennett said. "Adelaide is a lovely city, but in my opinion it still hasn't identified its core.

'"You need to stop thinking in terms of 2010, and instead think about what sort of city you want Adelaide to be by 2030, even 2050. Then you need to work out what investments and assets will be required to realise that vision."

Mr Kennett, who initiated a massive public works program for Melbourne, despite inheriting multibillion-dollar budget woes, says short-term party politicking should not stymie debate about the city's future.

He has encouraged Premier Mike Rann to establish a bipartisan commission, led by Mr Rann and Opposition Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith, to create an apolitical, long-term blueprint for the city.

The leaders are at loggerheads over inner-city development, Mr Rann declaring that the 2010 election would offer a choice between Labor's hospital redevelopment and the Liberals' inner-city sports stadium.

"Elections should not be about hospitals or stadiums," Mr Kennett said.

"Those issues should be decided upon by the premier of the day because he has a lot more information to hand than any other citizen or group with a vested interest. But there is also great value in the state trying to anticipate the future and develop a very exciting program that in no way threatens Adelaide's character or reputation, but builds on it."

Mr Kennett said Adelaide was already recognised as a leader in education and the arts, and this should be fostered.

"If I was Mike Rann, I'd be investing in things relating specifically to education. You have a reputation for very high quality in this area, not just within your education institutions, but within your arts precincts."

Mr Rann has long championed Adelaide as an international education city, with universities from the US, UK and India lured to SA in recent years, and overseas student numbers doubling to 23,500 since 2003.

Asked if he thought Adelaide would benefit from a sports stadium, Mr Kennett said: "I think, as part of a mix, yes. But on its own it's not that important."

But returning to his theme of Adelaide as an education city, he implied that a stadium could serve as a first-class training facility.

"In terms of something like education and sport, you'd want to make sure you put into place the very best teachers as well as the very best facilities, to provide the practice as well as the theory," he said.

"Unless you do things at the highest level, you might as well not bother. Above all else, make sure you create the best or the second-best venue in the world, whether it's a university, or a sports stadium or a hospital.

"With the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne we turned a simple piece of infrastructure into a major piece of infrastructure, and by doing that we secured the Australian Open for decades to come."

Mr Kennett said he was unaware of the parklands preservation debate, but maintained clever planning could ensure that city parks were both enhanced and better utilised.

In Melbourne, Mr Kennett used parkland to expand the National Tennis Centre, which he renamed Melbourne Park to advertise the city to an international audience.

But as part of the Federation Square and railyards redevelopment, the Kennett Government returned 93ha of open space and gardens to the city. And the man who was overwhelmingly rejected by country Victorian voters in 1999 said the whole of SA must get behind any program to revitalise central Adelaide.

"We did cause angst among voters in the bush," he said. "But we firmly believed that, as the capital of Victoria, it was absolutely essential that we get Melbourne out of its slump and the despair that had been around for a number of years. The most important thing we did was restore confidence to the people of Victoria."

[Norman]

An excellent article. And Jeff is very right in the points he put across.

Thanks AG!

[SRW]

He makes some very valid points.

If Melbourne's an example to go by, you have to spend money to make money.

[Shuz]

Kennett for Premier?