More than 100 locals gathered to have their say on the future zoning of their areas as Town of Gawler’s community engagement on the draft Southern Rural Areas Discussion Paper closes next Sunday (18 August 2024).
Member for Light, Tony Piccolo MP, invited residents across Hiller, Kudla, Evanston South, to a community meeting at Karbeethan Reserve.
The meeting was designed to present the Council’s ideas, with Acting CEO Andrew Goodsell attending, and understanding key issues among residents, with Mr Piccolo set to present them to the Planning Commission in a meeting this month.
“The work that is being done now will at least give our community a clear indication of the future direction of this area so all levels of Government can ensure the infrastructure is in place,” said Mr Piccolo.
“We understand some developments are bottlenecking because the infrastructure for sewer and water is missing, but planning ahead and giving the State Government indication of what we want to do into the future ensures that doesn’t happen to our southern rural community.
This is the second version of the draft Discussion Paper after Mr Piccolo and residents raised several concerns with the original version in a meeting last year.
“This is the second community meeting we’ve had regarding this matter, and we’re now starting to get pretty close to what we’ve been discussing, but not everyone will always be happy as some people will always want more development, while others want none at all,” said Mr Piccolo.
“These gatherings are about trying to find common ground and a resolution that everyone can at least agree to.”
Once consultation closes, this discussion paper will help form Council’s Gawler Growth Framework, set to be adopted in early September, which will outline the future across all areas in Town of Gawler.
The Planning Commission will integrate the ideas into their Greater Adelaide Regional Plan, with the draft proposed expected to be published in September/October this year, with the final report anticipated in March/April early 2025, highlighting land use, transport infrastructure and the public realm for the future.