Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Chronology
- Preface
- Adelaide City Map
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Australian Governments And Heritage
- 3 The Interest Groups
- 4 The Role Of Adelaide City Council
- 5 Townscape Protection To Local Heritage
- 6 Case Studies In Heritage Politics: Major Projects
- 7 Case Studies In Heritage Politics: Small Projects
- 8 Conclusion
- APPENDIX A ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL ELECTED MEMBERS 1981–95
- APPENDIX B Membership of Lord Mayor's Heritage Advisory Committee 1981–84
- Bibliography
- Index
6 - Case Studies In Heritage Politics: Major Projects
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Chronology
- Preface
- Adelaide City Map
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Australian Governments And Heritage
- 3 The Interest Groups
- 4 The Role Of Adelaide City Council
- 5 Townscape Protection To Local Heritage
- 6 Case Studies In Heritage Politics: Major Projects
- 7 Case Studies In Heritage Politics: Small Projects
- 8 Conclusion
- APPENDIX A ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL ELECTED MEMBERS 1981–95
- APPENDIX B Membership of Lord Mayor's Heritage Advisory Committee 1981–84
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
It therefore looks tragically as if appropriate priorities have somehow been lost in the political and financial processes: concern over the state's financial crises (perhaps now waning) and the construction industry's low ebb… Such matters seem to have overwhelmed the proper environmental concerns.
— Professor David SaundersPrevious chapters have shown that governments often gave consent when developers proposed building projects that would contravene heritage legislation or principles of development control affecting heritage buildings. Moreover, governments themselves sometimes initiated such projects. The Bannon Government was first elected during the state's deepest recession since the Great Depression, and the Premier sought economic growth through major events and building projects. Local governments also stretched the boundaries of development approval, often granting concessions to the developers of major projects that spoiled the character and streetscapes of Adelaide the most. Many Adelaide councillors expressed the view from time to time that the constraints of the City of Adelaide Plan were not intended to apply to major projects. For example, in a debate on the REMM-Myer development, Lord Mayor Condous spoke of a ‘too rigid maintenance of the City of Adelaide Plan’, indicating a willingness to bend the rules for the largest commercial project of its day. Developers of major projects invested large sums of money, and many on the council believed they deserved special consideration. In the 1980s, as heritage registers were being developed, heritage protection was subordinated to economic growth at both state and local government levels.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Heritage Politics in Adelaide , pp. 109 - 133Publisher: The University of Adelaide PressPrint publication year: 2011