Blogawler

It is important that the draft “commitment” deed for Gawler East has finally been released.

Although it is a working document it does provide a very good indication of the possible make up of the final deed.

What is very interesting is the lack of financial commitment by Delfin Lend Lease.

 In fact Delfin is quite upfront about their primary objective: achieve commercially acceptable returns.

Reading the document it sounds that Government departments and the community become de-facto agents of Delfin to ensure they turn a profit.

Issues like undergrounding the power and water (which are vital for Delfin to ensure the housing density they need) are placed at the feet of the organisations that own them. It is proposed they are pay for the upfront cost. An ‘equitable portion’ will be recouped from, for example Delfin, in a manner to be agreed with Delfin after the site  is developed. There is no commitment to pay all of the cost, just a proportion sometime in the future.

The connector road from the north to the south of the development is proposed to be funded by the State Government and the Gawler Council. It will be a local road and is therefore unlikely to provide any long-term solutions to general traffic congestion in the town

A very worrying point is the proposed location of a waste water treatment plant, water storage dams and power generation within the Para Woodlands Conservation Park. The Para Woodlands, with funds to manage it, was generously donated to the whole community for revegetation and as a sanctuary for animal life. This Park is an important element in the State’s program to halt species loss, ensuing the long-term survival of plants and animals.

Proposing to site infrastructure in Para Woodlands shows a total disregard for the value the community places on its conservation area over the need for profit.

The document shows how a situation can be skewed towards one entity at the expense of others.  The document highlights the problems that are generated when projects are rushed. It looks more and more like Delfin has not done its home work before bidding for the site and now is trying to reduce its financial obligations to ensure its profitability.

 Surely this process is not healthy for the developer or the community. If a structure plan had been completed originally, developers would be able to bid for land knowing full well the cost  to develop the site.

We currently have a developer who at the beginning of the process was promising a lot of outcomes. They propose to back away from many of them and are relying on the community to fill the gaps in their plans.

 The whole approval process should be halted until all the issues around the development are resolved.  The State Government and Gawler and Barossa councils need to avoid  a rushed process favoured by a powerful corporation that believes it can bring pressure to bear politically