CHANGES IN THE ACC

This chapter examines the changes in influences in the ACC, the State and the City of Adelaide Planning Commission (CAPC). I discuss the background to the first Heritage Study of the City and analyse the review of the City of Adelaide Plan 1976–81, together with the subsequent statutory amendments resulting from the review. In 1972 Lord Mayor Bill Hayes had instituted the policy that the Lord Mayor would only serve two one-year terms and that the senior Alderman would become the next Lord Mayor. This meant the Lord Mayor of the day enjoyed the support of the rest of the elected members of the Council during a limited term of office. Thus, when George Joseph chose not to comply with the policy and tried for a third year in 1979, he lost to Jim Bowen, who was then the senior Alderman. Bowen had the support of the other elected members and, as a member of The Adelaide Club, the support of the establishment. Bowen was also appointed as the Chairman of the CAPC.

Ian McPhail came to South Australia in 1979 as Director of the Office of Local Government. McPhail recalled the one thing that Bowen emphasised on him was the ‘Olympian and separate status of the Adelaide City Council’. The ACC had retained the position of Aldermen as well as Councillors, and had its own planning legislation. McPhail wondered why was there such a piece of legislation that created a hole in the centre of the metropolitan plan. While this was a valid question, there were no pressures within the State to change the situation. It was just part of the structure of the City, clearly defined by the heritage of Light’s Park Lands, which acted like a cordon sanitaire. Thus, there could be a different approach to governance in the City compared to the rest of the metropolitan area without it being a problem. However, McPhail contended the City’s separate status meant it could be resistant to social issues, including housing, transport and accessibility.