South Australia

Place:   Historic Foreshores of Adelaide

Threat: Inappropriate development

HISTORIC FORESHORES, SA

Significance of Place

South Australians and the people of Adelaide currently enjoy pristine beaches and a modestly developed coastline. Adelaide beaches are for everyone.

So far ‘Gold Coast’ style developments have eluded the SA coastline. The metropolitan landscape features suburbs that gently finish at the beach’s edge. This much cherished harmony between suburban landscape and seascape ends abruptly at Glenelg, where high-rise developments have commandeered the beachside view to the exclusion of the urban hinterland.

The modesty and accessibility of this coast, which contributes so substantially to the character and amenity of Adelaide, is now dramatically threatened by intrusive and inappropriately scaled development.

Description of Threat

South Australia, and Adelaide, is in the grip of a land boom. Real estate values along the SA coastline are experiencing unprecedented levels as vacant land sells for prices previously unheard of. Land values are necessitating higher developments as developers seek their commensurate return.

Further up and down Adelaide’s urban coast, and indeed regional coastline, the increasing popularity of seaside locations for residential developments is placing the natural heritage values of these sites at heightened risk. Adelaide’s existing urban foreshores are suffering from northerly sand drift caused, in large part, by

the removal of sand dunes in the early to mid 20th Century. Despoliation of these sand dunes occurred to make way for housing developments that today form some of Adelaide’s more established metropolitan seaside suburbs.

Historic Glenelg, the place of South Australia’s proclamation and strongly associated with Adelaide’s beach-side heritage has experienced intense development dramatically changing its foreshore character. As the area’s development potential matures, the ripple effect will be felt north and south with Port Adelaide now the subject of intense development interest.

While rejuvenation of Adelaide’s port is welcomed, serious concerns for the integrity of its cultural heritage are real. The harbour-side housing being proposed for Pt Adelaide creates an enclave within this historic precinct that bears no relationship with its physical context.

Action Required

The National Trust of South Australia argues that the lessons of past mistakes need to be heeded. Beachside Local Governments need to identify these locations as character precincts and ensure that, in their Development Plans, policies are created that ensure the future of that valued character is not compromised.