Thomas Turner Reserve Masterplan

I am very proud of having initiated the latest Thomas Turner Reserve Masterplan, as I did for the original one back in January 2011.

Consultation on the 2016 version is happening as we speak, until December 2nd 2016, and I encourage everyone to have their say in this.

Already I have heard some exciting ideas from community members, and trust I will hear more at today’s community day.

Having once lived only a few minutes walk from TTR once, and using it regularly for passive recreation, I know what a prize reserve it is, in size and the myriad of uses it can host. Donna and I are also looking to buy a property close by so we may be using the reserve once again regularly.

It is also rare in that it is literally on the border of 3 councils, and many residents of PAE, Salisbury and Tea Tree Gully Councils use it, as well as those from even further afield.

My original motion was:

“That Council staff bring back a report to a subsequent meeting of Council on the upgrade of the sporting facilities at the Thomas Turner Reserve, Valley View, and that such upgrade of facilities be referred to the 2015/16 budget for approval”. 

which was passed back in September 2014 but then was altered to a full Masterplan during 2015, at which I also asked that we undertake comprehensive community consultation.

At the time, any changes to the driving ranges or golf course was not to be considered as part of this consultation, but at its November 2016 meeting, Council voted to undertake a separate review of its golf assets portfolio, which will commence next year.

You can have your say on the Thomas Turner Master Plan on Council’s website here:

http://www.portenf.sa.gov.au/page.aspx?u=2567

and this page also has lots of valuable further information.

Yes, I do have my own ideas on how to improve TTR, but at this stage I want to listen to yours!

Feel free to leave comments below!

UPDATE NOVEMBER 21st 2016

It was a tremendously successful gathering at the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Community Consultation Day at Thomas Turner Reserve on November 19th.

Over a hundred local residents attended, along with all three ward Councillors – myself, Cr Anne-Marie Hubycz and Cr Matt Osborn, and we even had a cameo appearance from Cr Peter Jamieson from Outer Harbor Ward. We also had representatives from the Pumas Soccer Club present along with Council staff and consultants.

donella-ttrccd

This masterplan had its origins in January 2011 when I initiated the process of a masterplan:

“Cr. Basham moved
1. That Council endorse the Administration’s undertaking of a Masterplan for Thomas Turner Reserve;
2. That the Masterplan encompass all areas and all aspects of Thomas Turner Reserve;
3. That a workshop be held for elected members on the Masterplan before public consultation is undertaken on the plan;
4. That public consultation on the Masterplan be undertaken including at least newspaper advertisements, an article in the P2P, a letterbox drop in the Port Adelaide Enfield side of Valley View on the eastern side of Nelson Road, a board notice in the Valley View Shopping Centre and by way of handbills and signs in the Driving Range Shop and Valley View Golf Course Shop and by letter to all organisations with a lease or having hired TTR in 2010 and/or 2011.
Cr. McCarthy seconded CARRIED.”

Many residents spoke to me on November 19th, most of whom I had met or corresponded with previously in my time on Council, and whilst listening, I was impressed with the interesting breadth of ideas, and the passion for the park was palpable.

However, I also detected a large degree of scepticism amongst residents, and perhaps understandably so, after a Council staff member (no longer with us) in 2011 hijacked the masterplan I had initiated for residents to include the flawed multi-soccer pitch idea and the move of Enfield City Soccer Club to TTR as part of a merger plan with Valley View Soccer Club.

This led to a campaign from local residents in which the then three ward Councillors were heavily involved, assisting residents, and included this flyer:

ttr-residents-flyer-2011

Even though Council at its November 2011 meeting tried to steer the masterplan back on its community driven track, Council ceased work on it completely in 2012.

Even further back, in 1994, some senior staff (again, none involved still with us) initiated a proposal to sell off some of TTR right at the northern end for housing (sorry, no longer have any historic paperwork on that one, but would love to see it if anyone else does).

Longer term residents may recall my leading role in squashing both of these ill-conceived, and non-community driven debacles.

So, my idea in initiating this masterplan was for the results to be resident and user driven, which is why I asked for the most comprehensive methods of community consultation ever undertaken by the City of Port Adelaide Enfield.

This is not debate and decide. It is not even, “what do you think of this?” It is more than community consultation, it is community participation in what Council will do with TTR.

It is worth stating here that Council (ie staff AND the elected member body) have no preconceived plans on this Masterplan, and even though I shared some thoughts on the 19th to see what local residents thought (I have every right to share ideas), the whole idea is that residents and user groups have their say, and the consultants put all the ideas together from residents and user groups (my ideas will not be submitted to the consultants), and then they draw up a plan, or plans, from what they’ve heard and present that to a workshop of the Councillors some time in the new year.

The contents of that workshop will be reported here for your information (by law, no decisions can be made at a workshop). Council staff will pull together the ideas from the workshop and that will then go to a Council meeting for endorsement for further public consultation in 2017. I will also report that here.

I can’t tell you what will be in that plan, or plans, as no one knows yet. Yes, leaving things as they are is also an option.

One option I will not accept is selling, giving away or swapping any portion of TTR for housing or other purposes, ie the footprint of TTR will stay the same, and it will be still be ALL for community recreational use.

My newsletter on the consultation, being distributed in PAE east of Dry Creek, is here:

ttr-masterplan-flyer-nov16

ttr-flyer-nov16

We do know that the soccer clubs need new changerooms – they can of course be on the footprint of the current ones, more or less. Council could of course kick the soccer clubs off the reserve, but I think that would be very unlikely, and very sad if that was a serious suggestion from any resident.

Even though back in 2011 I led the opposition on Council to the proposal to see TTR turned into just soccer fields and the golf course, I believe that the current soccer clubs are excellent tenants on the reserve, and deserve to stay.

However, we also know most residents of Geraldine and Derwent Terrace are sick of the sheer volume of soccer related traffic.

Thus, the logical solution to this, in my mind, is a road coming off Nelson Road (or Grand Junction Road) to a new car park near the current house on TTR (for your information, this is a Council owned heritage listed building, and is currently a private rental property). So if this happens, locals using the reserve will be able to still use Derwent Terrace as a road and foot thoroughfare but everyone else will find it so much easier to use the new main road entrance.

My solution to these issues may not be shared by other elected members (I haven’t asked them yet), or anyone else at all, but I thought it worthwhile putting them out there.

I have started doorknocking those residences closest to the TTR in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield to ensure everyone has their say on what they would like, and would not like, at TTR, with spare response forms with me.

20161121_1447251

As always, I am interested in what you have to say in response to my posts, so please let me know what you think below.

Any comments on this page by readers will be accepted by staff and consultants as a submission for the purposes of the Thomas Turner Reserve Masterplan consultation.

If you would like to receive up to the minute updates on Council’s work on the Thomas Turner Reserve Masterplan via email, either email me at crmarkbasham@live.com.au or let me know below.

2 comments

  • Holger Meissner

    DM,
    I’ve perused your webpage – detailed, informative, enthusiastic & committed! I’ve already submitted a paper & an on-line survey to the P-A/E Council on behalf of my elderly mother (who lives in Geraldine St) & myself & hopefully someone in authority will actually READ my suggestions/comments! Judging by what transpired after your initial 2011 Masterplan, I really have serious doubts whether all this talk is going to result in some kind of progress. SA in general (and that includes our COUNCILS!) is often perceived as achieving very little compared to the rest of the nation – all talk & no action. Ordinary ratepayers get the impression that there are always some little “Hitlers” out there making final decisions that the majority of us never supported!
    Let’s hope that your 2016 Masterplan initiative will eventually benefit a whole bunch of people – cheers, Ollie.

    • Thank you for your comment, Ollie. I will take this opportunity to also comment.
      I understand your scepticism after the last Masterplan effort, and this is Council’s opportunity to do it right, but this does not mean everyone will get what they want. This may be impossible if, hypothetically, 100 respondents want a dog park, and 100 residents say they do not want a dog park. What do we do? Even though that is hypothetical, similar real life examples from consultation occur often enough.
      As for reading your submission, I can guarantee you it will be better read than Andrew Bolt’s book. Not only will Council’s consultants on this be digesting every word of yours and all the others, so will relevant Council staff, numbering around 20, and then copies to all elected members. I can’t speak for all Councillors, but I am sure your three ward Councillors will pore over every submission like a bible scholar over a newly found Testament.
      Also, all submissions are publicly available, and not only will Council make the overall findings public, so will I. There are no secrets here. This is a very transparent process and the results will be voted on in public. Everything happening will be reported on – on this website.
      You also have to remember, despite what went wrong last time in the process, the end result was a good result for residents: no housing was built in 1994, and no new soccer pitches, stadium lighting nor grandstands were constructed in 2012.
      As for Councils achieving little, I think that is a little unfair on our Council. Just in our ward alone in the last 4 years we have built the award winning Greenacres Reserve Playground, and upgrades to the following playgrounds and reserves: Vickers Vimy, Walkley Heights, Butler Grove, The Parkway, Ray Norton, Thomas Turner, Roy Amer, Harry Wierda, LJ Lewis Dog Park and we are masterplanning Thomas Turner, FJ Garrad and Duncan Fraser reserves this year, and early next year upgrading Pauls Drive, O’Loughlin Road and Augusta Street Reserves.
      Thanks again, I trust we have your support for heading down the right track this time!

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