| Press release
by Press
release posted on WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31ST
Cheltenham racecourse
must set benchmark for storm-water storage in western
suburbs
“As public
debate continues on the pros and cons of constructing
Adelaide’s first desalination plant, it is
timely to look seriously at the merits of bringing
Cheltenham Racecourse into public ownership, sourcing
federal water funding and thereby providing a much
needed boost to local groundwater reserves through
storm-water storage,” Greens candidate for Port
Adelaide, Colin Thomas, said today.
“National Water Week reinforced the message that
all water – whether surface water, wastewater,
storm-water or groundwater – is a valuable
resource and should be recycled as much as possible.
“Storm-water should be seen as a resource that
will form an essential part of the metropolitan water
supply to ensure our long-term water security.
“Given opportunities to harvest Torrens Road
storm-water which would otherwise flow into Barker
Inlet or Magazine Creek, water management planning
should top the list of priorities for Cheltenham
Racecourse.
“In our current water crisis a thorough,
broad-based assessment of the water management
potential of the site must be undertaken.
“The value of Cheltenham Racecourse for flood
mitigation, storm-water harvesting and aquifer
recharge should be properly evaluated by an expert
panel of scientists, planners and engineers, with
findings made available to the public.
“Storm surges such as those that flooded parts
of Port Adelaide this week highlighted the need for
an urgent assessment of Cheltenham Racecourse as a
flood mitigation site.
“A trial to treat storm-water naturally in
underground aquifers to a standard fit for human
consumption is currently underway at Parafield.
Cheltenham Racecourse’s potential to be utilized
in a similar way must be considered.
“Aquifer recharge would gain added community
value when combined with other compatible uses for
the site such as health, recreation and sport.
“Community consultation conducted by the Land
Management Corporation in 2006 highlighted
significant public opposition to any proposal for
hard-topped development over the site.
“The local community has been vocal in
supporting more open space on par with allocations
provided to their eastern suburbs counterparts.
“With the SAJC likely to announce the preferred
buyer for Cheltenham Racecourse soon, the unpopular
sale of land for large scale subdivision and
development should be scrapped in favour of more open
space combined with the capture and retention of
valuable storm-water,” concluded Mr. Thomas.
Please contact Colin
Thomas for further information:
Telephone: 0403 312 493
Email: Colin.Thomas@sa.greens.org.au
Reproduced
with kind permission from Colin Thomas
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