The Adelaide Park Lands are the figure-eight of land spanning both banks of the River Torrens between Hackney and Thebarton and separating the City of Adelaide from the surrounding suburbia of greater Metropolitan Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. They measure over 2,332 acres.
The Park Lands were laid out by Colonel William Light in his design for the city. Originally, Light reserved over 2,332 acres for a park, including 32 acres for a public cemetery, and planned reserves for Government House, a hospital, market, school and storehouse. Part of the Park Lands are managed by the Adelaide City Council and, since February 2007, the Adelaide Park Lands Authority has advised council and government.
On 7 November 2008 the Federal Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, announced that the Adelaide Park Lands had been entered in the Australian National Heritage List as "an enduring treasure for the people of South Australia and the nation as a whole".
In fact, large areas of the Adelaide Park Lands along the north side of North Terrace were excluded from the Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout National Heritage Place listing, from the Adelaide Botanic Garden to the Thebarton Police Barracks.
Video Adelaide Park Lands
History
Adelaide is a planned city, and the Adelaide Park Lands are an integral part of Colonel William Light's 1837 plan. Light chose a site spanning the River Torrens, (which runs through the Park Lands), and planned the city to fit the topography of the landscape, 'on rising ground'.
In early 1837, William Light proposed to the Resident Commissioner James Hurtle Fisher that the figure-eight of open space, which Light later referred to as 'Adelaide Park', be reserved as 'Park grounds'. Despite superficial similarities between [South] Adelaide and William Penn's design of Philadelphia, there is no evidence that Light was influenced by, or even knew of, the plan of Philadelphia. Light was required to set out a town of 1,000 saleable one-acre Town Sections, but in planning the City of Adelaide (North and South Adelaide) he also included in his city design 38 acres (15 ha) of city squares: Hindmarsh, Hurtle, Light, Whitmore and Wellington Squares (each comprising six acres), Victoria Square (eight acres), four one-acre Public Reserves (with frontages to Victoria Square), and the Adelaide Park Lands.
In 1838 the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia authorised South Australia's Resident Commissioner to purchase the Adelaide Park Lands, and these instructions were carried out in South Australia in 1839.
By 1839 the Park Lands were threatened by extensive timber cutting, rubbish dumping, brick-making, quarrying, squatting, and grazing. To check this, a body of special constables was instituted on 9 October 1839 by George Gawler and Superintendent Henry Inman. Inman appointed Nick Boys Bull (c.1800-1846), formerly a police sub-inspector, as Keeper of the Park Lands. Bull led an initial team of six park rangers, most being convalescent migrants thrown on government support. This dropped to two by 1840, then back to four by June 1841. Pay and rations were provided by the police department.
Since 1852, the areas of the Park Lands placed in the custodianship of the municipal corporation have been managed and maintained by the Adelaide City Council. Public use of the Park Lands was controlled by a ranger who patrolled the parks, regulating sporting and recreational activities in the parks and supervising the depasturing of stock grazing there.
The Park Lands saw development during the 19th Century, for example the Adelaide Botanic Garden, hospital, South Australian Institute, Adelaide Oval, Victoria Park Racecourse. Extensive felling of trees, quarrying and dumping of rubbish continued, which combined to give the Park Lands an unsightly appearance. In the late 19th century John Ednie Brown, the government's Conservator of Forests, was commissioned by the City Council to prepare a blueprint for the beautification of the Park Lands. Brown presented his Report in 1880, but it was not acted upon until the turn of the 20th century when A.W. Pelzer became the City Gardener. Major progress was made in planting and landscaping the Park Lands during his tenure (1899-1932) and further improvements such as creation of new gardens and boating lakes were carried under the authority of W.C.D. Veale, the Town Clerk (1947-1965).
Maps Adelaide Park Lands
Park Lands today
Today, some of the Park Lands are the location of public and cultural buildings. Many parts have been sculpted into planned gardens and playing fields. Some of the remainder is remnant or regenerated Adelaide Plains grasslands or grassy woodlands. Recent developments have focused on maintenance and upgrading of recreational facilities, and removal of remnant grasslands and open grassy woodlands, particularly through urbanisation and the Greening of Adelaide tree planting and replacement programs.
Recent years have seen proposals made to redevelop Victoria Park, with the construction of a grandstand to cater for the Clipsal 500 and horse racing events. Due to lobbying by local resident groups this plan was eventually rejected by the Adelaide City Council and subsequently no longer pursued by the South Australian Government.
In December 2006 the state government passed the Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005, which established the Adelaide Park Lands Authority and a series of statutory protections for the Park Lands. At the time the Act was proclaimed, Premier Mike Rann announced that a major return of alienated Park Lands would be made at the western edge of the city. The area to be returned lies between Railway Terrace, Port Road and the railway lines.
In 2011 Rann unveiled the plans for the return to Park Lands of 5.5 hectares of land occupied since 1879 by the Thebarton Water Depot. The land, which was treeless grasslands prior to European settlement, was developed and landscaped with more than 23,000 trees and shrubs as an 'urban forest'. It features indigenous species including native pine.
Parks
Although it is a single Park, for management purposes the Adelaide City Council used the last two digits of survey sections as labels to identify these smaller areas within the Adelaide Park Lands.
There has never been a comprehensive biodiversity audit, or species inventory. The desktop study of historical records included some opportunistic sightings, but did not carry out baseline surveys in the 29 areas of the Park Lands described.
In some, but not all, cases, roadways crossing over the Park Lands coincide with the Survey section boundaries that gave rise to council's numbering (from "Park 1" through "Park 29"). The numbering starts in the North Park Lands (the North Course of the Adelaide Golf Links), and increases clockwise around the perimeter. Some of the parks are more commonly known by a commemorative name, but others, particularly Park 10, are still known mostly by their number. In recent years, many parks were assigned alternative names as suggested by the Kaurna people. However, the original English names assigned in the 19th century remain almost universally used.
Possum Park / Pirltawardli
Kaurna Park Name & translation: Piltawodli 'possum place' ('pilta' = possum, 'wodli' = house or home) 76 hectares
Of an irregular shape, Possum Park / Pirltawardli wraps around the western end of North Adelaide in a vaguely crescent or banana shape. The southern and western boundaries are provided by War Memorial Drive. The eastern boundary, from south to north, is formed by Montefiore Rd, the western end of North Adelaide (i.e. Strangways Terrace, Mills Tce and Barton Tce West) and Jeffcott Rd. The northern boundary is formed by Park Tce.
Contains the Adelaide Golf Links.
Denise Norton Park / Pardipardinyilla
Padipadinyilla 'swimming place' 17 hectares
Approximately square, the park is bounded by Fitzroy Tce (to the north), Prospect Rd (to the east), Barton Tce West (to the south) and Jeffcott Rd (to the west).
The Park provides a range of formal and informal facilities for cricket, swimming, tennis and family picnics. The north-west corner of the Park contains the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, picnic facilities and the Bush Magic playground. The remainder of the Park includes sporting facilities, open space and vegetation (designed and semi-natural landscapes).
- The Adelaide Swimming Centre was relocated to this Park in 1968/9 to replace the old City Baths on the current site of the Festival Centre. Renovated, enclosed and renamed Adelaide Aquatic Centre in 1985. Renovated again in 1998.
- The Bush Magic Play Park was designed in 1988, and is important as a precedent for the contemporary generation of play spaces around the Park Lands and metropolitan Adelaide. It was the first play park in SA to incorporate wheelchair access.
- Sporting facilities currently held under an annual licence to Blackfriars Priory School include change rooms, five playing fields and four tennis courts. The licence covers an area of approximately 35% of the Park. The school has first right of use of these areas on weekday afternoons after school, and on Saturday mornings.
Yam Daisy Park / Kantarilla
Kandarilla 'kandara root place' 3.3 hectares
A small triangle bounded by Prospect Rd (west), Fitzroy Tce (north) and Main North Rd (east).
Contains open park.
Reservoir Park / Kangatilla
Kangattilla 'kangatta berry place' 9.4 hectares
Approximately pentagonal, bounded by O'Connell St (west), Main North Rd (north-west), Lefevre Rd (north-east and east) and Barton Tce East (south).
Contains open and wooded park, with SA Water facilities at the western end. The former Fitzroy Croquet Club was located in the northern corner of the Park, and there were two ovals in the middle of the Park. The main structure of the SA Water facilities is an earth-covered reservoir, dating from the 1870s, that stores and supplies water to Adelaide. Associated with this are a two-storey red brick pumping station, a small brick pumping station "heavily painted in Brunswick green", and an electricity sub-station.
Bragg Park / Ngampa Yarta
Ngampa yerta 'ngampa root ground'
Of irregular shape, the park is bounded by Robe Terrace (NE), Medindie Road (SE), Lefevre Road (W) and Main North Road (NW).
Contains two small ovals, surrounded by wooded park. There is also a Tree Planting Memorial, erected in 1982 by the North Adelaide Society, to recognise the community tree planting efforts in the locality.
Lefevre Park / Nantu Wama
Nanto Womma 'horse plain' or 'male grey kangaroo plain'
Roughly trapeziodal, the park is bounded by Robe Terrace (NNE), Kingston Terrace (SE), Lefevre Terrace (WSW) and Medindie Road (NW).
Contains open park, mainly used for horse agistment. There are three main paddocks, four feeding yards, five horse troughs, and a number of sandpits for the horses to roll in. There is a limit of 20 horses, and those licensed pay a weekly fee. (In 2005, the fee was $19.50 per week.)
The open areas are surrounded by woodland. There is a playground on the western boundary (Lefevre Tce), one of the Glover Playgrounds originally built in 1920, which also contains BBQ facilities and wide lawn spaces. The eastern third contains assorted playing fields, changing rooms, tennis courts and netball courts. Wilderness School holds a licence for eight tennis courts (also marked for netball), one cricket oval, two cricket practice nets, and three hockey/softball ovals. In 2005, there was also a green-painted brick structure with a flat roof, erected in the late 1960s, which "appears to have an undefined purpose and use".
The Olive Groves / Kuntingga & Parngutilla
Kuntingga 'kunti root place' (park 7) and Barnguttilla 'barngutta root place' (park 8) are small and elongated parks, with a combined area of 4.7 hectares, separating the east end of lower North Adelaide from Gilberton, and contain heritage listed olive groves. They act effectively as an enlarged median strip, with the major ring route of Park Terrace (southbound) and Mann Road (northbound) traversing the perimeter of both parks.
These parks were one of the first sites for the (European settlers) plantings of olives, and are the only section of the Park Lands that have kept the same use since the Council took over formal care of the Park Lands in the 1860s. The olive plantation is listed as a State Heritage Place.
Bundey's Paddock / Tidlangga
Tidlangga 'tidla root place'
A triangular shape, bounded by Mackinnon Parade (NE), Bundeys Road (S) and Hackney Road (W). It has also been referred to as "Bundey's Paddock".
Contains assorted playing fields and changing rooms. An oval is licensed to Prince Alfred College on Saturday afternoons and Thursday evenings. In the past, contained a number of grass and bitumen tennis courts which have fallen into dis-repair and been removed.
Bulrush Park / Warnpangga
Warnpangga 'bullrush root place' 19 hectares
Bounded by War Memorial Drive, Bundey's Road, MacKinnon Road, MacKinnon Parade, Finnis and Frome Road.
The Park is dominated by a number of sporting ovals and associated facilities licensed to the University of Adelaide, including a tennis pavilion, a grandstand, and changing rooms.
The Park also contains:
- The Adelaide Archery Club rooms, in the north eastern corner of the Park.
- The University Loop, a well used 2.2 km gravel running track, which encircles part of the Park.
- The Adelaide City Council Organic Recycling Depot/Nursery, (approx 1.6 hectares), comprising: an Office Building, 3 sheds, 6 glass houses, a shade house, and 6 propagating plant frames.
- The Lower North Adelaide Soldiers' Memorial Garden, located in the north of the Park.
- A number of sculptures, located in 1994 on the edge of the River Torrens.
- A small playground
Mistletoe Park / Tainmuntilla
Tainmundilla 'mistletoe place'
A quite large piece of land bounded by the River Torrens (north), North Terrace (south), Hackney Rd (east) and Frome Rd (west). It contains the Zoological Gardens, the Botanic Gardens, the Botanic Park, the Wine Centre, the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (IMVS), the Medical School of the University of Adelaide, and several University of South Australia buildings.
Red Gum Park / Karrawirra
Karrawirra 'river red gum forest'
Bisected by the river, the northern part contains the University playing fields. The southern part contains the University of South Australia (City East campus), the University of Adelaide (main campus), the Art Gallery, the Museum, the State Library, the War Memorial, Government House, the Torrens Parade Ground, Jolly's Boat House, the Boer War Memorial, the Jubilee 150 Walkway, numerous statues, and quite a lot of other odds and ends.
Rundle Park / Kadlitpina
Kadlitpinna - named after Kaurna "Elder" painted by George French Angas
Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka
Mullawirraburka - named after Kaurna "King" of the Aldinga-Willunga area
King Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina
Ityamaiitpinna - one of the three main Kaurna "Elders" with whom the colonists negotiated
Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi
Bakkabakkandi 'trotting' Used to contain Victoria Park Racecourse. Contains part of the Adelaide Street Circuit, et al.
Carriageway Park / Tuthangga
TUTTANGGA 'grass place' Contains the Croque Club, et al.
Peppermint Park / Wita Wirra
WITA WIRRA (wita 'peppermint tree' + wirra 'forest; bush') Contains Himeji Gardens et al.
Pelzer Park / Pityarilla
PITYARRILLA 'marshmallow root place' Open park and playing fields.
Blue Gum Park / Kurangga
KURRANGGA 'blue gum place' Contains the French Club and Boule rinks, assorted playing fields, a mountain-bike / BMX-bike track, et al.
Veale Park / Walyu Yarta & Golden Wattle Park / Mirnu Wirra
WALYO YERTA 'waylo root ground' Contains Veale Gardens, assorted playing fields, et al.
MINNO WIRRA ('golden wattle grove') Contains assorted playing fields, et al.
Josie Agius Park / Wikaparntu Wirra
WIKAPARNDO WIRRA (wika 'net' + parndo 'ball' + wirra 'forest; bush') Contains about 20 netball courts, aged seating for spectators and a small kiosk and toilet block
G S Kingston Park / Wirrarninthi
WIRRANENDI ('to become wirra') Contains West Terrace Cemetery, et al.
Ellis Park / Tampawardli and Ellis Park Road
TAMBAWODLI Contains Adelaide High School and assorted sports grounds
Gladys Elphick Park / Narnungga
NARNUNGGA Contains assorted sports grounds, and until demolished in November 2010, some SA Water buildings in the north-west corner on the far side of the railway line.
Stella Bowen Park / Tarntanya Wama
TARNTANYA WAMA Like Park 12, it is bisected by the river. The northern part contains the Adelaide Oval, Creswell Gardens, Memorial Drive, St Peter's Cathedral and Light's Vision. The southern part contains Parliament House, Old Parliament House, Adelaide railway station, the Casino, the Riverbank development, the Convention Centre, assorted boat houses, the Festival Centre and Elder Park
Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli
BONYTHON PARK / TULYA WODLI A large irregular shaped park bounded by the tram line (south, south-west, west), Park Tce (north-west), Memorial Drive (north-east, east, north-east, north) and the Morphett St Bridge (east), and bisected by the River Torrens.
It contains the Torrens Weir, restaurant and Par 3 putting course, the Dame Roma Mitchell Gardens, the Old Adelaide Gaol, the Bonython Park, the Thebarton Police Barracks, the Road Safety School the remainder of the Railway Yard (the bulk of which was relocated to Dry Creek), assorted broad gauge and standard gauge railway lines and bridges, the new Royal Adelaide Hospital (under construction), assorted hospital and University buildings on the former site of the City Sk8 Park, six Tennis Courts, some boat houses and Rowing Clubs' clubhouses, etc.
Park 28
PALMER GARDENS / PANGKI PANGKI
Park 29
BROUGHAM GARDENS / TANDOTITTINGGA Brougham Gardens are surrounded by Brougham Place, North Adelaide.
Planned parks
Other parks are the location for institutions requiring large expanses of turf or other greenery. Planned parks such as these include:
- Adelaide Botanic Gardens (Park 11)
- Adelaide Botanic Park (Park 11)
- Adelaide High School's sports grounds (Park 24)
- Adelaide Municipal Golf Links (Park 1)
- Victoria Park Racecourse (Park 16)
- Adelaide Street Circuit (Surrounding Parks 14 & 15, and inside Park 16)
- Adelaide Oval (Park 26)
- Elder Park (Park 26)
- Himeji Gardens (Park 18)
- Veale Gardens (Park 21)
Buildings/institutions within the Park Lands
- Adelaide Aquatic Centre (Park 2)
- Adelaide Botanic Garden* (Park 11)
- Adelaide Convention Centre* (Park 26)
- Adelaide Festival Centre (Park 26)
- Adelaide Gaol (Park 27)
- Adelaide High School (Park 24)
- Adelaide Oval (Park 26)
- Adelaide Parklands Terminal (Park 23)
- Adelaide railway station* (Park 26)
- Adelaide University Boat Club (Park 12)
- Adelaide Zoo (Park 11)
- Art Gallery of South Australia* (Park 12)
- Botanic Park (Park 11)
- Government House* (Park 12)
- Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science (Park 11)
- Memorial Drive (Park 26)
- Mile End railway station (Park 24)
- National War Memorial* (Park 12)
- National Wine Centre (Park 11)
- North Adelaide railway station (Park 27)
- Parliament House* (Park 26)
- Royal Adelaide Hospital* (Old site:Park 11, New site:Park 27)
- South Australian Museum* (Park 12)
- State Library of South Australia* (Park 12)
- Thebarton Police Barracks (Park 27)
- Torrens Parade Ground (Park 12)
- University of Adelaide City (main) campus* (Park 12)
- University of South Australia City East campus* (Park 12)
- Victoria Park Racecourse buildings (Park 16)
- West Terrace Cemetery (Park 23)
* North Terrace forms the southern boundary of these establishments.
Now-demolished buildings/structures which were built on the Park Lands include:
- Jubilee Exhibition Building* 1887-1962 (Park 12)
- Jubilee Exhibition Railway 1887-1927 (Park 12)
Park Land preservation movement
Since the Park Lands were set apart by William Light as part of his original 1837 Plan of the City of Adelaide, and intended by the city founders to be reserved as public walks in perpetuity, any development can be seen to go against the founding ambitions for Adelaide and be a source of controversy in the community.
In response to incessant pressure and erosion, there have been many defenders of the Adelaide Park Lands. In 1987 a public meeting was held, which resulted in the formation of the Adelaide Parklands Preservation Association Inc, (APPA), which later corrected its name to Adelaide Park Lands Preservation Association Inc. Examples of such pressure and erosion are listed on APPA's "Hot Topics" page.
A recent example of one such source of controversy is the Victoria Park racecourse and associated area south-east of the city centre which has been used for motor racing events for short periods of each year. In 2008 these parklands were targeted for development, incurring opposition from members of the community. The proposed plans included construction of a permanent corporate facility to house events such as the Adelaide 500 motor racing event.
On 30 August 2007 veteran Adelaide heritage consultant and conservation architect Ron Danvers said it was "a myth" that Adelaide's founding fathers created the parklands (sic) exclusively for open space, and that it was "self-evident" that Colonel William Light's 1837 plan of Adelaide envisaged development of facilities beyond the CBD. In a submission to the Adelaide City Council, Mr Danvers said the state Government's $55 million plan for a grandstand at Victoria Park for horse and motor racing was "completely consistent with the founding principles for the city". "Under Light's direction, the intention to locate public facilities outside of the main street grid is beyond question," he said in a report commissioned by developers KBR.
Subsequently, numerous counter-arguments demonstrated the fallacies in those points of view, and the proposal was dropped.
See also
- List of Adelaide parks and gardens
References
- "Adelaide Park Lands Act 2005". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 2006-05-16.
- Government of South Australia. "Adelaide Parklands map" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2005. Retrieved 2006-05-16.
- Government of South Australia, Department of the Environment, Water, ?Heritage and the Arts. "Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout, South Australia: Location/Boundary plan" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-03-10. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link) (PDF)
- Community Land Management Plans, Adelaide City Council
External links
- Park Lands Usage, City of Adelaide fact sheet no.9, March 2009, www.adelaidecitycouncil.com
Source of article : Wikipedia
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