Premier Jay Weatherill has distanced himself from a suggestion by the head of his Government’s urban development agency that “we want people living on the riverbank”, including west of Morphett St – but he has refused to rule it out.

As InDaily reported yesterday, Renewal SA chief John Hanlon told a Property Council forum that riverside residential development on-Torrens would help realise the Government’s vision of dramatically increasing the population of the city of Adelaide.

But Weatherill said he was “a bit surprised” at the comments.

“I think you might call that a rhetorical flourish,” he said.

“We haven’t really grappled with that … we hadn’t really thought about turning what’s essentially parklands into residential.”

Nonetheless, the Premier was adamant that “I don’t want to rule it out”.

“I wouldn’t want (people) to conclude that the Government has decided to go down that path yet,” he said.

“We haven’t really considered that yet.”

Renewal SA boss John Hanlon on the banks of the Torrens.

Adelaide City Councillor Phillip Martin, a staunch advocate for parklands preservation, said he was “heartened to hear that the Premier hasn’t embraced the idea”, adding: “I and a great many other South Australians would be relieved to hear him rule it out completely.”

SA Property Council executive director Daniel Gannon said yesterday waterfront living would work if South Australians embraced a new “residential culture”, predicated on a leasehold rather than freehold model.

But Martin said any suggestion of residential waterfront development on parklands was a “wacky idea”.

“It’s one of the wackier ideas that I’ve heard in recent times,” he said.

“I hope that South Australians will grasp the significance of the argument that’s being advanced by some sectors of the business community.

“What they’re saying is the parklands – which have been held in trust for 175 years or more, designed by Colonel Light, listed on the national heritage register as an outstanding asset and treasured and enjoyed by generations – are under threat.”

He said the suggestion raised “significant issues” around sectioning off the parklands for the “residential enjoyment of those with deep enough pockets to afford it”.

“There is, in some sections of the community, a capacity to view trees and grass and vistas, and see development sites, where rational-thinking South Australians see parklands,” he said.

“If you put a piece of the parklands on the market, you’re saying to people ‘it’s all up for sale’.

“We already have a diminishing stock of parklands … why would we want to see it consumed for housing (when) there are whole city blocks in Adelaide that are undeveloped? It makes no sense to me.”

Rod Hook, who Hanlon briefly replaced as CEO of Planning and Infrastructure before moving to Renewal SA, said he hadn’t been party to any discussion about bringing residential development to the riverbank.

“There’s the (Lang) Walker proposal … we envisage that as either a hotel or an office … but if they want to put residential in the area over between the Torrens River and the trainline, that’s city council parklands as far as I’m aware, so that will create a few issues if they want to go in that direction,” he said.

“You’ll start a whole new debate on the future of the parklands, I’d have thought.”

He said he was not against the suggestion in principle, but any proposal would have to maintain public plaza access to the waterfront, and “I’d have thought there are other opportunities first”.

“When you look at what Melbourne and other places have done on the water, it’s a debate you could have … but I’m not sure I’d want to be out there leading it,” Hook said.