TRANSCRIPT
3 February 2025
ABC Radio Adelaide Breakfast
E&OE
Topics: Linear Park Connection Project
Sonya Feldhoff
Depending on where you are, there are some beautiful sections of it, but we do know that particularly of late, we've seen some safety concerns around lighting, around a bit of nefarious behavior going along the Linear Park. So the Liberals have been looking at this and have come up with what they say is a $30 million plan to improve the situation. James Stevens is the Liberal MP for Sturt, and joins us now. Hello, James Stevens.
James Stevens
Good morning to you Sonya, Jules and all your listeners.
Sonya Feldhoff
Why do you think we need to invest in linear park?
James Stevens
Linear Park is already a great asset, but we can make it even better. And there's been investments in individual sections over the years, and they've been fantastic outcomes. But unfortunately, it's like when you paint your kitchen, you realise there's another part of the house that desperately needs updating too. So what we've found is that parts are excellent, parts are very substandard, and it's really time to invest in a proper master plan, and time to start getting the whole thing to the highest standard that parts are so that we can enjoy every stretch of linear park.
Jules Schiller
Well let's get to the money. How much are you proposing to spend on linear park, and who's spending it?
James Stevens
So local government are already bearing the huge burden of this. And to be honest, I don't think that's been fair for some time. So we're saying at the Commonwealth level, if the Liberal Party is elected, we're going to put ten million into a joint fund. We're hoping that the state government will put ten million in as well, and the state liberals have made this commitment already. And of course, then it's up to local government to put the other ten million in. Now it'll be a $30 million fund, but individual projects will bid into that fund. So there'll be a variety of costs. Some might be under a million dollars, some might be a few million dollars, depending on the stretch and what they're looking to do. And so we'll be able to make some merit based decisions out of that fund to keep investing in Linear Park for years ahead.
Jules Schiller
So you're saying, if the federal coalition gets up and wins the election, and we'll know by May, James Stevens, and the Malinauskas Labor Government is in well, they were in power for another year. But would you are you calling on the Malinauskas Labor Government to match the funding that Vincent Tarzia have promised today?
James Stevens
Oh, absolutely, we would love to partner, obviously, with both sides of state government. Our money isn't contingent on that, though, so we'll be putting ten million in no matter what. But it would be good to see this as a genuine partnership with all three levels of government. Clearly, if the state government were prepared to be a co-funder, we could get $10 million more worth of activity. But look either way, our money is there if we were elected at the next election,
Sonya Feldhoff
Your predecessor, Christopher Pyne, I think, was prepared to spend a million dollars on the Linear Park many, many years ago. This works out to be about a million dollars per kilometer if it actually comes to fruition. What sort of improvements do you think would be necessary?
James Stevens
They probably fall into two categories. There's recreational and there's environmental. Green Adelaide have done some excellent work, particularly on the environmental side and they're looking at trying to reintroduce the platypus into the Torrens, which I think would be very exciting. It's obviously a huge challenge, and they're still working through some of the science around that. But there are environmental projects that we'd be investing in, recreational projects as well. You mentioned safety before. That's one of the first ones recreationally, not just upgrading the actual pathways, but there's some very innovative, modern safety that we can invest in with nocturnal animals. Lighting needs a little bit of technology around it, but Campbelltown Council in particular have already looked into some great technology that would bring the safety upgrades without risk to current habitat. And really, look, we want to this to be a partnership with community. You know, we're keen for people to bring us their ideas and suggestions. At the moment, there's some fantastic stretches of Linear Park. We just need to plug it all together so that you can enjoy it, no matter what part you're on.
Jules Schiller
We have some ideas coming through on the text line. I mean public barbecues, I guess, would encourage people to use green spaces and, you know, enjoy the sun and lunch at the same time. I'm wondering if you've ever considered because, you know, when we've brought this up before James Stevens, we often get pedestrians who don't like the cyclists who don't like the pedestrians. Would you consider like separating pedestrians and cyclists so they could both enjoy it without, say, potentially colliding?
James Stevens
I think there's a lot of merit in making sure that we can include every different pursuit along there in a way that's shared, rather than pitting people against each other. And look, I agree. I both ride and run down there at different times and it's not ideal at the moment. We want people to feel comfortable walking, running, riding, pushing a pram, no matter what it might be, and this is a great opportunity with this new fund, to look at ways in which we can share Linear Park better as well.
Sonya Feldhoff
You're listening to the voice of James Stevens. He's the Liberal MP for Sturt, and we're talking about the federal Coalition's plans to see investment in our Linear Park, the 30 Ks of Linear Park that you may use at different times and stretches from, I think you said Athelstone Jules, right down to the coast. So lots of different people in Adelaide, get to use that Linear Park, or get the possibility of accessing that linear park.
Jules Schiller
Yeah, we're asking you on 0467 922 891, or you can call, what would you like to see there? One comment just came through James Stevens is from Jenny, and she's saying, What about cafes and restaurants along the park? There's nowhere for people to go and have a coffee, a drink, a social catch up. Would you consider some kind of amenities like that?
James Stevens
So we wouldn't support permanent structures, but we want to see coffee carts and the ability for innovative ways to further activate along there. So, you know, there's certainly the ability to build purpose space for temporary things like coffee carts that can be set up but packed away. So the the linear park and the Parklands more generally, are great pristine asset. We're very sensitive about built form along there. It's got to be recreational. It's got to be in line with the environmental enhancements we want to achieve. But the point she's made is spot on, how fantastic would it be if someone was allowed to set up a coffee card every morning, or particularly on weekends when they think they can do a good trade, and while you're wandering along, you can stop and grab a coffee.
Sonya Feldhoff
Now, James, James Stevens, can I go back to safety for a moment there? Because you talked about lighting, but in terms of other technology, are you looking at a broader scope of technology that might make people feel safer outside of lighting?
James Stevens
Look, I think CCTV cameras are also very important in open public spaces. I know, you know, at dusk and dawn, people have got very genuine apprehensions about the safety along there, and unfortunately, at times, that's proved to be well founded. So we want to see lighting. We want to see CCTV. There's some other modern, innovative technologies that have been brought to us, and we really want to give people a greater confidence to use linear park more than they currently do, and that will involve investment in in safety to give that confidence.
Jules Schiller
And why do you think? Why have you focused on Linear Park? James Stevens, what is it about Linear Park that you think deserves this amount of attention?
James Stevens
It's such a spectacular asset that we've got. No city that I have ever been to or can think of has something like Linear Park wrapping around the Torrens running all the way just about from the source down to the coast. It's already a fantastic asset, but I think we can make it better still. And so this is an opportunity to find places that need a bit of rejuvenation, find some environmental projects that will transform the local flora and fauna in that part. It's something we all enjoy already, but I'd love to see even more families using it, either for the first time, or much more than they currently do. And I think by undertaking this investment, we'll achieve that outcome.
Sonya Feldhoff
Before we let you go, Rebecca has just called in asking, Which linear park. Should we be calling it something else, which sort of gives it a unifying place, or sense of it all being part of one? Because I think people, yeah, we've been talking about name changes earlier, haven't we?
James Stevens
Well, look the point's well made that at the moment, you can't continuously go all the way from the source to the sea, and that's one of the challenges we want to confront through this project. We're calling this the Linear Park Connection Project for that very reason. And look, there are parts of Linear Park where, frankly, you feel like you're going from East to West Berlin at times. You know you're in a beautiful stretch that suddenly hits an area that has had no investment in it whatsoever. So that's really underpinning what this vision is.
Jules Schiller
Alright, James Stevens, thank you for joining us. He's the Liberal MP for Sturt.