Brendan Simpkins
TWO historic Gawler tennis courts could be demolished after a development application was submitted to PlanSA for public consultation.
The site contains two commemorative plaques, one that recognises the coronation of the Queen in 1953.
The other plaque recognises the former St George’s School, which was on the site until 1891.
The courts are on the corner of Orleana Square and Cameron Streets in the Church Hill State Heritage Area. Previously the two lots had been up for sale through Commercial SA but were recently under contract.
If the application for the development – the nature of which is not known – is approved, the courts, along with the adjacent sandstone shed, chain-link fencing and light poles, will be demolished.
The land encompassing the courts is considered a State Heritage Place, given its location within a State Heritage Area.
St George’s was attached to the adjacent Anglican Church. Its inaugural headmaster was Leonard Samuel (L. S.) Burton, a former mayor of Gawler and a prominent figure in the town’s history.
However, the application states the tennis courts and the commemorative plaques “do not have special heritage significance and do not display characteristics of importance to the surrounding area”.
“We understand that the tennis courts and the associated components hereby proposed for removal were constructed a significant time after Colonel William Light’s original plan such that they do not form part of the planned layout,” the planning statement reads.
“We understand that the recreational use of the land is not of heritage value and that the land was initially planned for development. The recreational use of the land does not contribute to the heritage value of the Church Hill State Heritage Area.”
Under the proposal, both of the plaques will be either relocated to an area suited to Gawler Council, offered to the Anglican Church of Australia as former owners of the land, or relocated to another section of the land that suits the site’s future development.
An audit of trees on the land was also conducted, concluding 21 of the 23 trees on the site could be removed. Public consultation on the proposal closed last Friday. It will go to council for a decision.