Govt launches independent review of Crows Brompton snub
The Malinauskas Government has announced it will appoint an independent firm to conduct a review of the “consistency and appropriateness” of the former government’s decision to choose an interstate developer over the Adelaide Crows for the redevelopment of the vacant Brompton Gasworks site.
The former Brompton gasworks site. Image: Renewal SA
The former Marshall Government and Renewal SA chose Melbourne-based developers MAB Corporation in January to remediate and develop the vacant 5.8ha Brompton site into a 120-room hotel with associated piazza, cafes, restaurants and bars.
The Crows have since shifted their sights to other locations to find their long-awaited new home, with Thebarton Oval looming as their most likely landing place.
But the club’s Brompton proposal has been thrown a lifeline by the Malinauskas Government, who took to the election a promise to conduct a review into the contract awarded to MAB and release details of how the criteria for the Brompton proposal was weighted.
The criteria weighting was disclosed in a media release from the Malinauskas Government this morning:
- Commercial Offer (27.5 per cent)
- Remediation and Environmental Strategy (27.5 per cent)
- Draft Master Plan, Vision and Guiding Principles (25 per cent)
- Development Delivery Team (10 per cent)
- Development Program and Timing (10 per cent).
Insiders told InDaily last month that the points-based judging criteria that awarded exclusive negotiation rights to MAB “wasn’t even close”, both as an aggregate score and “in each of the individual categories”.
But Minister for Housing and Urban Development Nick Champion said there was “widespread community concern” about the development and the “manner in which it was handled” by the former government.
“This is a significant opportunity to develop the inner-western suburbs on the fringe of the CBD and we want to ensure we get this right,” he said in a statement.
“We have notified all relevant parties of our course of action.”
The review of the site, which will be undertaken by an independent firm, will examine the “consistency and appropriateness” of the former government’s decision and how it aligns with the objectives of the 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide, the Planning and Design Code and the 20-year State Infrastructure Strategy.
The Malinauskas Government says no deed will be executed between Renewal SA and MAB until the review is complete.
