RESIDENTS living in Gawler’s “green belt” face further uncertainty over the status of their land after controversial new State Government planning laws were delayed again.
Planning minister Vicki Chapman last week announced a revised timeline for the rollout of its Planning and Design Code, which is set to replace all council development plans once implemented.
The code has already been delayed once, earmarked for July, before being postponed until September this year.
It will no longer come into effect until at least next year, with Ms Chapman conceding it would not be ready to roll out until after Christmas 2020.
“Over recent months, we have been listening closely to councils, industry and the wider community, who have all urged us to move the final phase of implementation to next year,” she said.
“Over 90 per cent of development applications are lodged in the metropolitan area, so we need to take the necessary time and continue to collaborate with stakeholders and work with councils who are integral to the program’s success.
“At this stage of the process, it would be irresponsible for us to proceed and ignore the insight and feedback that we have received from councils and the broader community.
“An original launch date for this final phase was anticipated to occur in September 2020; however, this was always dependent on a number of factors including the scale and complexity of submissions received during our consultation stage.”
The delay will create even more uncertainty for landowners in Gawler’s “green belt” south of the town, with Gawler Council voting in August 2019 to delay any planning decisions on the area until after the code is implemented.
Council was preparing a Development Plan Amendment for the green belt – which includes the suburbs of Hillier, Kudla, Evanston South and Evanston Gardens – but delayed it to allow for the codes implementation.
A controversial planning report by consultants Jensen Planning, known as Jensen Report No. 2, recommended allowing residents to subdivide their land into no less than 5000m² blocks in some areas and four hectare parcels in others.
This recommendation was rejected by a majority of landowners, with a public consultation process showing many wanted the area classed as “rural living”, so they could subdivide into smaller blocks.
Gawler Mayor Karen Redman said council had twice been advised by former planning minister Stephan Knoll to leave any decisions regarding the green belt until after the code had been rolled out.
“An update report is planned to be presented to council via the Infrastructure and Environmental Services Committee in relation to the implementation of the State Government’s Planning and Design Code, and how it relates to this matter more specifically,” she said.
“It will be for the IES Committee to recommend to council how it wishes to proceed in light of the delays outlined by the State Government.”
