Petition updateSave Tonsley Station! Save our access to public transport.SA Planning Commission Open to Submissions re. New Flinders Link Proposal until 19 October
Jodie PearceMitchell Park, Australia
Sep 21, 2018

On 10 September 2018, The Department of Planning and Transport (DPTI) prepared a submission to the State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP) of the SA Planning Commission with the proposal for the Flinders Link Development (Development Number: 100/V075/18). SCAP is the authority that determines whether the proposal should go ahead.

SEE THE DPTI’S PROPOSAL & HAVE YOUR SAY

The DPTI’s submission can be viewed at the DPTI’s Flinders Street office, at the City of Marion’s Development Services Counter or online (9 PDF files) here with instructions on how to ‘make a representation’: https://www.saplanningcommission.sa.gov.au/scap/public_notices

If you have ANY concerns or comments about the Flinders Link project, SUBMIT them NOW.  The deadline is 5 pm Friday 19 October 2018.  Even if you  have expressed your views elsewhere, it is important to do it again to the SCAP. If you have an opinion and haven’t expressed it publicly – DO IT NOW.  Equitable access to transport in our local community is essential.

Written comments must set out the reasons for your representation and will be taken into consideration by SCAP when it provides a recommendation to the Minister for Planning (Hon Stephan Knoll).  Representation forms can be found in Part 1 of the DPTI submission (link below). Written representations can be posted, hand-delivered, faxed or emailed:

Post: The Secretary, State Commission Assessment Panel, GPO Box 1815, Adelaide SA 5001
Street address: Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, Level 5, 50 Flinders Street, Adelaide SA 5000
Fax: 08 8303 0753
Email: scapadmin@sa.gov.au
Phone: 08 7109 7060  or 1800 752 664 (option 4).

 On 19 September 2018, the public was notified in print with a notice in the General Notices section of The Advertiser newspaper and online in the SA Planning Commissions Public Notices about Crown Development: https://www.saplanningcommission.sa.gov.au/scap/public_notices

The 9 PDF documents that comprise the DPTI’s Flinders Link Proposal can be found online here:

I could not download Part 4 (17774 KB) – my system advised that the file was damaged!  I wonder what important detail is in Part 4.

The City of Marion advises that its administration is in the process of assessing and considering the proposal, prior to comments being forwarded to the SCAP.  The City of Marion encourages residents to to complete and submit a representation form to the State Commission Assessment Panel, in order for those concerns to be considered.

 

DPTI COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

On Wednesday 19 October 2018, the DPTI attached POSTERS to the weather shelter at Tonsley Railway Station (Lynton Ave, Mitchell Park) inviting people to attend a ‘Community Information Session’ on Wednesday 3 October 2018 at the Marion Cultural Centre Domain Theatre, 287 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Park from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.  The DPTI would like people to register their attendance before 5 pm 2 October 2018 to dpti.flinderslink@sa.gov.au or 1300 928 345

This is a great opportunity for the DPTI to share the things that THEY want to share about the project but I am not sure how they can share everything that RESIDENTS want to know from over 322 pages of documents in two hours.

I  highly recommend that you MAKE TIME TO VIEW THE SUBMISSION so that you can be well-informed before the meeting and make the most of the limited time available at the information session.

There was NO COPY OF THE PUBLIC NOTICE as published online or in The Advertiser posted at the Tonsley Railway Station.  The posters did not direct people to the public notices, or the SA Planning Commission (SCAP) but to the DPTI’s Flinders Link Project Team.

On Wednesday 19 October 2018, around 10 a.m., a cyclist letterboxed the residents of Lynton Avenue, Mitchell Park with invitations to attend the Community Information Session. Residents west of Bradley Grove within 200 metres of Tonsley Railway Station were NOT letterboxed.  The catchment area of a Railway Station is roughly an 800 m radius according to national urban design guidelines.  WHY ISN’T THE ENTIRE CATCHMENT AREA OF THE TONSLEY RAILWAY STATION BEING INFORMED ACCORDINGLY? 

People on low incomes cannot afford to subscribe to newspapers and have limited access to internet. Many elderly people or people with disabilities cannot access the internet at all. What about the people in Mitchell Park and Tonsley on low incomes who cannot afford private transport or taxis and are doing it tough enough already? These are the people who will be most adversely and profoundly affected by the loss of Tonsley Railway Stations.  So many people with disabilities want the opportunity to get out and about, to access education, employment, community facilities and participate in the economy. How can they do that if they cannot access safe, affordable, independent transport such as the current train service provides.

ANYONE, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME can become affected by disability or just circumstantial bad luck.  It can happen over time or in a split second. It is shameful that the DPTI should remove equitable access to transport where it already exists!  This also goes against the ethos of National Productivity Commission policies like the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) the aim of which is to enable people with disabilities to participate in their communities and contribute to the economy.

Previous Tonsley transport plans acknowledged the need to maintain railway station access in the southern sections of Mitchell Park and Tonsley so what has changed?  David Pisoni MP, as former Shadow Minister for Transport pre-election (and as Member of the Public Works Committee that endorsed the Flinders Link project), recognised the significant amount of new development in this part of the suburb where the population density is increasing with urban infill developments including 4 brand new dwellings specifically designed for people with disabilities built within 250 metres of the existing Tonsley Railway Station in Kelly Grove, Mitchell Park.  This suburb has housing managed by a number of disability and community housing organisations.

Meanwhile, we will have a railway line running right through a suburb where the people who live there won’t be able to access the rail service at all.  What a waste of rail resources which goes against national urban design guidelines about liveable, walkable, healthy, environmentally friendly and sustainable neighbourhoods.

WHAT TO DO NOW

  • Make a representation to the SA Planning Commission – State Commission Assessment Panel (SCAP)
  • Attend the Community Information Session on 3 October 2018 at the Marion Cultural Centre
  • Sign this petition as soon as possible if you have not already. Encourage others to sign. Paper petitions can be accessed via email to: savetonsleystation@gmail.com
  • Tell everybody you know about the efforts to Save Tonsley Station and what to do, especially your neighbours.
  • Write letters to the editors of the local, state and national newspapers and other relevant publications.
  • Join the discussion and information sharing on residents' 'Tonsley Station Friends' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/438999896555463/
  • Contact your Local Government representatives and planning departments
  • Contact your State Government Members of Parliament and the State Minister for Transport
  • Contact your Federal Government Members of Parliament and the Federal Minister for Transport  

The SA DPTI and the SA Planning Commission are overseen by the same State Minister in his capacities as both Minister for Transport and Minister for Planning.  Journalists said on radio this week (paraphrased) “He’s going to write a letter to himself and the proposal is going to get in.”  The Federal Government has a big push on rail at the moment. It recognises that rail is an equitable and most desirable and efficient form of passenger transport. The Federal Government is also paying for half of the Flinders Link project and has the power to withdraw the funding from it.  I wonder how the Federal Government policy makers feel about a State Government department undermining the broader national urban, social and economic planning goals?

MEDIA

SA Transport Minister, Stephan Knoll was on ABC Radio Adelaide 891 this week on Ali Clarke's Breakfast program between 8:30 and 9 am Thursday 20 September 2018 to discuss Torrens to Torrens and was also asked about the Tonsley rail extension. Then Spence Denny did a live radio piece from Tonsley Railway Station between 10:30 and 11 am today on David Bevan's Mornings program (these files are only available for 6 days from publication):

  • Ali Clarke Breakfast. Segment starts approx 2:48:50 into program. Tonsley specifics arise at 3:01:30: http://www.abc.net.au/.../breakfast/breakfast/10245592
  • David Bevan morning program. 1:43:38 - Tonsley segment:
    http://www.abc.net.au/.../prog.../mornings/mornings/10245602
    35:20 into program is a replay of Stephan Knoll's comments about compensation for businesses forced into closure because of Torrens to Torrens and responses.
    37:45 - John Darley Independent MLC was scathing of the Department of Transport around land acquisition. "Not a compassionate bone in their body" and he suggested there are people in that department that need to have their employment contracts terminated. Later he says "the organisation within the department "disregards the law entirely". "They make their own rules and the rules are all over the place."
    47:18 - caller explains how the DPTI "don't tell you anything".

 

THANK YOU for your support.  A special thanks this week to the people who responded positively to the live radio interview by ringing in or driving by and honking horns and giving the 'thumbs up' for our efforts. 

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