Senior police appeared before parliament’s budget and finance committee on Monday to give an update on relocating SA Police operations from the state heritage-listed Thebarton barracks, which is set to be bulldozed for a $3.2 billion Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Assistant Commissioner Noel Bamford told the committee that new sites have been identified for nine of the 15 police business units located in Thebarton.

This includes the police horses and dogs which are moving to a new $90 million facility in Gepps Cross after a lengthy and controversial government land search.

But Bamford said four police units – the Road Safety Centre, Armoury, Traffic Camera Unit and an equipment store for the Emergency and Major Events Section (EMES) – are still “actively under investigation” for a new site.

Two units – the Band of the South Australia Police and Police Historical Society – do not have any location identified yet.

Bamford said the $114 million relocation budget only covered six business units.

“There are further submissions to be made,” Bamford said, adding that each relocation was being managed by a governance team chaired by the Department of Treasury and Finance.

“The $114 million is not sufficient for 15 (business units). It’s only for six.”

Asked whether the cost could reach $150 million to $250 million, Bamford replied: “I can’t give you a number because some of the business units have had test fits and estimations done on multiple sites.”

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens then said: “Until we have a definitive decision regarding scope and costings based on scope adjustments, we can’t forecast what the cost will be for each of the remaining business units and whether or not it’s temporary or permanent.”

Thebarton police barracks. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

Stevens said it has been “quite a challenge” to identify accommodation for all 15 units as most of them have “rather specific needs as opposed to general office accommodation”.

He also advised that early works have begun on the new Gepps Cross barracks.

The 12-hectare government-owned site, located 9.9km north of the CBD, was selected after the government scrapped an earlier plan to locate the horses on land near Adelaide Airport due to concerns about PFAS contamination.

The 12-hectare parcel of land near the State Sports Park in Gepps Cross has been earmarked for a new police barracks. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily

The Malinauskas Government also vetoed SA Police’s initial preference for an Adelaide park lands site amid strong opposition from Adelaide City Council and conservation groups.

The Police Commissioner on Monday said that SA Police has been “delayed in our ability to proceed with the specifics of the relocation” due to “changing decisions in relation to what site options were available” for the police horses.

Asked what the original timeline was for vacating Thebarton barracks, Stevens said police were working towards the end of March 2024.

“I think the desire is for us to be gone by the end of the first quarter of 2024, but that is probably unachievable given the construction works that are required at Gepps Cross,” Stevens said.

“The most significant barrier to our earlier departure will be the establishment of the stables for the Mounted Operations Unit – there is simply no temporary arrangement that can be put in place.”

Stevens said they were prioritising the construction of the stables and temporary office accommodation so the police horses can relocate before the Gepps Cross facility is complete.

An impression of the proposed Gepps Cross police barracks. Image: SA Govt

In a submission to parliament’s public works committee earlier this month, SA Police advised that it could move the horses from Thebarton to Gepps Cross in June 2024 by installing temporary offices.

But the submission also warned that “accelerated delivery carries a risk of incurring cost overruns” and “the fast-tracked nature of the project may present a risk to achieving the design brief”.

The submission sets a November 2023 start date for major construction at Gepps Cross with “practical completion” in March 2025.

Asked whether he had a date for when all 15 business units will be out of Thebarton barracks, Stevens said he did not but “it will be later than March 2024”.

Among the nine police units with relocation sites confirmed are the Police Security Services Branch, Security Advice Section and State Operations Support Branch, which are all earmarked for a move to 199 Grenfell Street.

Police’s Diversity and Inclusion Branch is moving to a site on Port Road in Brompton while the Police Operations Centre facility is being incorporated into SA Police’s Angas Street headquarters.

Stevens on Monday also said there would also be additional ongoing costs to float the horses in from their new Gepps Cross home.

“We don’t have a firm number on that at the moment,” he said.

“We will need to spend more time working on our new deployment model so we can properly determine the additional resource requirements and the costs associated.”

Treasurer Stephen Mullighan told parliament this afternoon that there is a date in the second quarter of 2024 when the Thebarton barracks must be vacated.

“Our priority here has been providing a home for the police greys which will suit the needs of the Mounted Operations Unit for decades to come,” Mullighan said.

Opposition police spokesperson Sam Telfer called for a non-Gepps Cross site to be selected.

“Peter Malinauskas’ decision to send the SAPOL mounted operations unit to Gepps Cross is shambolic and it’s unbelievable we are still talking about this problem forced by Labor,” Telfer said.

“Peter Malinauskas needs to slow this process right down and choose another site that actually works for police and our community’s safety, and not push on despite such significant concerns.”

In October 2022, Attorney-General Kyam Maher said every three months of delay on the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital build would cost the State Government $25 million.