GAME OVER
On Tuesday 2 March 2021, the Adelaide City Council voted unanimously that it would NOT allow the Adelaide Football Club to locate any commercial or administrative facilities on any part of the Park Lands.
This effectively ended a years-long saga, with secret maneuverings dating back to 2017. See the full story below. (Scroll down to ‘Round One’)
ROUND TWO - 2021
This is the site, within Bullrush Park / Warnpangga (Park 10) that the Adelaide Football Club reportedly was targeting in 2021 for a corporate Park Lands headquarters,
From ground level, this busy site is hidden behind a hedge. It is the City Council’s plant nursery and green waste recycling centre.
The Advertiser reported on 18 February 2021 that the Adelaide Crows chairman, John Olsen had made a secret approach to the City Council to explore the possibility of taking over this site.
The mere possibility of such a location was enthusiastically promoted by columnists and an editorial in The Advertiser, e.g.
David Penberthy (26 February 2021) (NB: these are all subscriber-only links)
However, the reaction in the community was entirely different. So much so, that the dominant, so-called “Team Adelaide” faction on the City Council moved quickly to quash the speculation. All members of the faction reversed their previous support for a Crows Park Lands takeover. (See Round One, below)
The Council resolved unanimously on 2 March 2021 that there would be NO support for an Adelaide Football Club administrative or commercial building on any part of the Adelaide Park Lands.
This has left the Crows looking at the likelihood of a site at Thebarton, and/or another, undisclosed site “not on Park Lands”.
CROWS ROUND ONE
THE 2019-20 BATTLE FOR DENISE NORTON PARK / PARDIPARDINYILLA (Park 2)
On 4 April 2020, the Adelaide Football Club officially withdrew its threat to put a corporate office block onto Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla (Park 2) of the world-unique National Heritage listed Adelaide Park Lands.
It's disappointing that it took a worldwide pandemic to fight off a corporate takeover.
The AFC’s statement of 3 April 2020 sent mixed messages by first claiming that the project was “on hold” and then going further to say:
“We are extremely disappointed to officially withdraw our proposal”
The City Council undertook a deeply flawed consultation, undertaken over a period of three months, from 11 December 2019 to 11 March 2020.
The consultation attracted 2,797 responses, of which 1,443 (52%) opposed the Crows plans.
A report to a Council committee on Tuesday 7 April 2020 deliberately omitted 746 of these responses because they “may have been influenced” by APPA.
See below for information about the campaign that APPA was running on this issue.
SA’s first female Olympian, Denise Norton (after whom this Park is named) spearheaded a campaign to keep this Park for the public. But Denise Norton was not alone. .
WHO ELSE HAd CONCERNS?
It was a bribe to take over a Park
The Adelaide Football Club was promising to build a new public aquatic centre, for free, if only they could have put a $65 million, two-storey office block, and private training facility alongside:
PUBLIC WAS NOT IN FAVOUR
An opinion poll of Adelaide residents found overwhelming support for keeping the Adelaide Aquatic Centre in public hands, rather than turning it over to the Adelaide Crows.
Independent market research poll, commissioned by APPA from ReachTEL, found scant support for the proposed Crows deal. 763 people were surveyed across the federal electorate of Adelaide, including City and North Adelaide residents.
Asked whether, in the context of the Crows bid, areas of the Adelaide Park Lands should "be turned over to commercial re-development”, the result was 61.9% "no" and only 29.6% “yes”, with 8.5% unsure. When four separate options were offered, support for a Crows takeover was as low as 26%. Read the full story here. Analyse the full polling results here.
“Gobsmacking"!” That’s how former Lord Mayor and former Member fo Adelaide, Jane Lomax-Smith described the Adelaide Football Club’s takeover plans. Hear her interview with 891 ABC Adelaide radio host David Bevan on Mon 24 February 2020
Public debate Wed 12 February 2020
The Adelaide Football Club rejected our invitation to a public debate on this issue. Nevertheless, we had three speakers in favour of the Crows proposal debate against three speakers in favour of maintaining the site as Park Lands. Former Liberal deputy Premier, Graham Ingerson was joined by News Ltd columnists Paul Starick and David Penberthy (the two writers in absentia as cardboard heads) whose pro-Crows newspaper columns were read to the audience.
Former Adelaide Lord Mayor, Stephen Yarwood, introduced and moderated the debate
The pro-Park Lands debating team was:
Dr Ingrid Wangel (on behalf of Denise Norton-Wangel)
Dr Jane Lomax Smith (former Lord Mayor and former Member for Adelaide)
Shane Sody (President, Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Association)
The debate served its purpose by allowing those in attendance at the North Adelaide Community Centre to form their own opinions before responding to the City Council’s flawed consultation process.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT?
What the City Council referred to as an “extensive communication and engagement strategy” opened in December and concluded on 11 March 2020.
On 4 April 2020, the Adelaide Football Club formally withdrew its bid.
The following City Council meeting, on Tuesday 14 April 2020, considered SOME of the community feedback, but explicitly rejecting all 746 replies that were prompted by our publicity.
The dissenters
In 2020, only these four Councillors (below) resisted the relentless push by the Adelaide Football Club to privatise Denise Norton Park.
You might like to contact these Councillors to give them your congratulations and encourage them.
BACKGROUND
The Adelaide Football Club formally approached the City Council on 19 February 2019 with what the Council calls an “unsolicited bid”.
Before the Adelaide Football Club made its official bid, it was entertaining Council executives with freebies to football games and other functions throughout 2017-2018. See the details in our November 2019 newsletter.
Only four days later, on 23 February 2019, the Council held a secret meeting to consider the bid. Two weeks later the Council CEO was authorised to enter a “Participation Framework Agreement”, still subject to secrecy.
However, the secret talks were leaked to the media. On 30 March 2019 the Adelaide Football Club CEO Andrew Fagan confirmed that the club wanted to build, on Park Lands, new "training and administration headquarters". He welcomed $15 million that was offered by the Federal Government.
The Crows desired site currently hosts the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, and sports grounds used by Blackfriars Priory College and other community and casual groups.
There is a Park Lands Management Strategy, endorsed by both the Council and the State Government. No part of that strategy envisages a multi-million dollar sports franchise having its administration headquarters in Park 2.
After 10 months of hiding behind a veil of “commercial in confidence” secrecy, the veil was lifted on 10 December 2019.
