Current Issues

FOWB has been advocating, with mixed success, for planning which provides:

• a less engineered solution at Aldinga

• grade separation of crossings for cyclists and walkers at Aldinga and elsewhere

• sufficient opportunities for right turns onto South Road

• less tree removals, especially on the Victor Harbor Road.

The duplication of the two roads is now well underway and while no commitment has been made to build underpasses for cyclists and walkers, FOWB continues to work with government to provide safer crossings.

FOWB supports the Biodiversity McLaren Vale involvement in the planting of trees to replace the ones removed during the widening of the roads.

FOWB has lobbied with Onkaparinga Council long and hard for a proper cycling and pedestrian path from Willunga to Aldinga, and for a safe crossing of Main South Road at Aldinga.

State Government plans for the duplication of Main South and Victor Harbor Roads interrupted the campaign for such a cycleway, and FOWB proposed to the Department of Infrastructure and Transport, that an underpass be built at the intersection of Main South Road and Port Road.

State Government have recently allocated funds for the creation of the path. But the duplication of the main roads has started and there is no agreement to build the underpass, so FOWB continues to work with government to address the issue of safe cycling and pedestrian trails and crossings be built.

In 2020 – 2021, Friends of Willunga Basin, Friends of Port Willunga and Willunga Basin Trail, actively engaged with Onkaparinga Council on local planning for this State Government initiative.

FOWB was concerned about the safety of a shared path for all, especially in off-road coastal locations that include sandy surfaces, steep inclines, sharp corners, eroding cliffs and creeks to cross.

We were also opposed to the shared path going through the Willunga Creek estuary, a culturally and environmentally sensitive area.

In June 2022 Council presented a revised concept development plan that took into account their engagement with the Council’s First Nations People Advisory Group.

In March 2023 Council presented an updated concept plan to stakeholders including FOWB. However we are concerned that not all of the issues we have been rising since 2020, have been resolved. Here is FOWB response to PWNCP Concept Plan March 2023

FOWB has a strong record of focussing attention on the need for climate change action and the development of more environmentally sensitive urban development.

We advocate for a government commitment to the development of suburbs and communities that are based upon sound urban planning and climate responsive design.

FOWB recognises the Commonwealth Government’s ‘Your Home’ building guide and the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star Communities Framework and Green Star Homes Certification as reliable guides for achieving more environmentally sensitive and energy efficient urban development and individual housing.

FOWB actively campaigned for environmentally sensitive and energy efficient development outcomes for the 1,000-home land division planned adjacent to Old Aldinga.

In 2021, we made submissions to both the Aldinga Suburban Development Structure Plan and the subsequent rezoning.

Aldinga Suburban Neighbourhood DPA March 2021

Working alongside Onkaparinga Council, we have also lobbied Renewal SA to set the environmental bar high when the land is offered to the market.

In June 2022 the newly elected Labor Government held the sale of the land over for a period while new transport infrastructure requirements are factored in.

FOWB will continue to advocate for socially and environmentally responsible use of the remaining land.

FOWB submitted our views to the Sellicks Structure Planning exercise undertaken by Onkaparinga Council, urging that less (new residential development) is more in this peri-urban location, particularly in the light of the development’s proximity to the Sellicks Hill quarry, remediated natural water courses, future open space and conservation land, and the lack of existing infrastructure at Sellicks Beach.

McLaren Vale Character Preservation Act 2012

Allied to these matters and having been a key player in the Act’s original creation, FOWB made submission to the statutorily required State Government Review of the Act in 2017-18.

McLaren Vale Character Preservation Review ACT 2012

FOWB then closely monitored and brought to a head, unresolved aspects of the review in 2020. The result was the retention in 2021 of the status quo, including current town boundaries, and a strong political message.

The Aldinga Conservation Park was proclaimed in January 2022 on the land formerly occupied by Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park and the adjacent Aldinga Washpool.

Saving and improving the condition of the Washpool has been a high priority for FOWB since its inception 1994. More recently, it has led the Washpool Coalition, a loose affiliation of local community groups lobbying firstly to prevent the sale of a portion of Washpool land and secondly to have the area declared as a conservation reserve.

Both objectives have now been achieved and attention now turns to future planning for the Aldinga Conservation Park, and how community will be represented and brought into this process.

Most recently, FOWB has opposed the sale of Onkaparinga Council’s waste-water systems to any party other than SA Water. We do not believe that essential services should be handed off to the for-profit sector.

FOWB has previously been an active participant in the discussion around storage facilities for reclaimed water in the district and was instrumental in an earlier proposal for a dam on Bowering Hill Rd being shelved.

We support the diversion of waste-water from the Gulf and its use for irrigation, subject to storage facilities being appropriately and sensitively sited.

FOWB is also represented on the current review of Water Allocation Planning across the Willunga Basin.

For some time, FOWB has been lobbying, to have the Old Sellicks Hill Road heritage listed. This was once the main road from Aldinga to all places further south, the original decision around which gave the Victory Hotel its name.

FOWB continues to advocate and lobby to have the old road heritage listed and to prevent its effective destruction on account of ancillary requirements and activities of the adjacent quarry.