After 2 years of work and engagement with the community, Council adopted Stage 1 of the District – 30 Year Plan in May 2009 for the main townships of Yankalilla, Normanville and Carrickalinga. This plan recognised the growing population of the District, identified key community values and proposed a Vision to manage urban growth in a manner that would deliver benefits to the community and acknowledge the characteristics that make this an attractive place to live and work.

The Community Values that received the highest ratings were:

• Preserving the coastal environment
• Protecting land of ecological and environmental importance
• Minimising the ecological footprint of the settlements
• Ensuring transport access to link communities
• Providing social infrastructure that enhances community life

These environmental and community values were expressed within the context of not seeking ‘growth for growth sake’ and as a consequence, the Plan sought to manage the natural population growth rather than seek an artificial target.

The District – 30 Year Plan identified a clear strategy for:

• Retaining the ‘rural feel’ of the study area, comprised of three distinct towns within rural and coastal settings;
• Linking the towns with community open space and shared pathways;
• Locating future growth areas for each town to:
• Respect the character of each township;
• Deliver the desired community open space areas within the most appropriate locations along the coast and waterways;
• Provide the best opportunity for protecting and enabling the improvement of sensitive environmental areas;
• Retain the Rural Landscape backdrop around the towns

The Structure Plan follows on from the work described above and is a required step to demonstrate that our local planning strategies are consistent with the State Strategic Plan and the Regional Planning Strategy for Greater Adelaide. At a local level it will essentially be reporting back to the community on the following:

• Population trends from the 2011 Census;
• A more comprehensive approach to managing population growth (focussing on opportunities to influence the permanent/part-time population mix; infill opportunities within existing towns and appropriately located and staged growth areas)
• The infrastructure needs of a growing population;
• Retail needs associated with how our Town Centres can service a growing population

The Plan identifies the ways in which population growth can be managed to best deliver on our Community Values over the next 15 years. This time frame is particularly in response to the Regional Planning Strategy’s requirement to plan for the zoning of sufficient land to support the expected demand for new dwellings over the next 15 year. This work needs to retain and build upon the best aspects to the existing character and also to retain visual separation between the towns to help preserve their identities.

Within identified town boundaries, the Structure Plan identifies:

• A select amount of land (Growth Areas) to form compact extensions to each township. Staging is recommended to re-zone and release Growth Areas, together with policy changes to promote infill close to the Town Centres, to accommodate the needs of our growing population.
• Town boundaries provide clear delineation between urban & rural areas & ensure that the rural landscape backdrop & ‘rural feel’ (valued by the community) are retained.
• The roles that the Yankalilla and Normanville Town Centres play in serving the needs of residents, visitors & tourists are reinforced.
• Land to provide opportunities for existing service industry & bulky retail (hardware and landscaping type land uses) to relocate & expand to serve a growing population has also been identified.

The Plan reinforces the need to protect the environment and reduce or prevent urban impacts on the coastal dunes and watercourses. Growth Areas are located to enable the development of buffers to those sensitive environments over time. This will also provide opportunities for ongoing environmental improvement mixed with public open space and the implementation of the Bungala Linear Park.

As a consequence of this, the Plan will provide the basis for agreement between Council and the State Government on the local priorities for managing growth to enable the right infrastructure decisions to be made and the prioritisation of amendments to our Development Plan to introduce appropriate planning policies and the staging of required growth areas.

A copy of the draft Structure Plan that was used to engage with the community during the end of 2013 can be found in related links.

The public consultation process in 2013 resulted in a total of 60 submissions being received and Council has spent time considering this input to finalise the draft Plan.

The draft final Structure Plan was the subject of further community input during a consultation process undertaken in June/July 2017. Council received 66 submissions and after holding a Public Forum on 24 October to facilitate further discussion with the community, will be giving further consideration to those submissions prior to finalising the Plan.

A copy of the draft final Structure Plan that was used to engage with the community during 2017 can be found in related links.

Related Links

Structure Plan 2013

Structure Plan 2017

The District - 30 Year Plan

Strategic Directions Report 2014