Heritage Politics In Adelaide During The Bannon Decade

276 Pages·2015·15.15 MB·English

by  Sharon Mosler

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HERITAGE POLITICS IN ADELAIDE DURING THE BANNON DECADE
Sharon Ann Mosler
Thesis submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in HistorY
School of History and Politics
University of Adelaide
December 2006
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 111
ABSTRACT 1V
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DECLARATION
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ACKNOV/LEDGEMENTS
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..
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CHRONOLOGY...
1 INTRODUCTION ..1
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2 TH.E AUSTRALIAN L^Boy'r.PARTY DURING THE BANNON DECADE
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3 rHE
4 THE ROLE OF THE ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL 75
5 TOV/NSCAPE PROTECTION TO LOCAL HERITAGE .."............. ... 108
6 THE INTEREST GROUPS ... 135
7 CASE STUDIES IN HERITAGE POLITICS: MAJOR PROJECTS 178
8 CASE STUDIES IN HERITAGE POLITICS: SMALL PROJECTS 210
9 CONCLUSION 232
APPENDICES ... 244
254
BIBLIOGRAPHY
111
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xiv
City of Adelaide Map
Bertram House, Grenfell Street 88
Edmund'Wright House, King William Street 153
Aurora Hotel, Hindmarsh Square 159
Commonwealth Bank, Currie Street 165
REMM-Myer project, North Terrace 194
East End Market, East Terrace 198
'Working'Women's
Creche, Gouger Street 205
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Kingsmead and Belmont House, Brougham Place, North Adelaide
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St Paul's Church, Pulteney Street
Somerset Hotel, Pulteney Street 220
'House of Chow' building, Hutt Street 223
Gawler Chambers, North Terrace 227
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ABSTRACT
This thesis argues that during the decade 1983-93 South Australia's heritage legislation was
not effective in protecting Adelaide's traditional built character. The Bannon government
was committed to growth through major developments during an economic recession, and
many of those developments entailed at least the partial demolition of heritage-listed
buildings. The Adelaide City Council was dominated by the city's business interests for
most of the decade, and its members increasingly disregarded principles of the City of
Adelaide (Development Controt) Act (1976) in approving high-rise buildings which
transformed the city's character. Possibly the spirit of SA's heritage legislation was more
violated by those intended to implement it than any other legislation in the 1980s.
The Hawke government's deregulation of the financial system in 1983-84 fueled
investment in property development, particularly after the 1987 downturn in the stock
market. Superannuation funds and insurance companies joined large development
companies in property investment, and an influx of overseas banks exacerbated competition
for credit customers. Lack of controls on reserves and lending created a culture of
unrestrained growth and speculative investment in property by bank managers unprepared
and untrained for the consequences during a nationwide building boom.
The boom ended by 1991 as office vacancies in South Australia rose to 20pet cent.,
leaving developers unable to repay their loans. Financial institutions collapsed, bringing
down three state premiers with them, including John Bannon. The economic policies
intended to correct a recession had proved devastating for the state's economy and built
heritage, which was lost on an unprecedented scale'
The history of the Bannon government has shown that economic imperatives tend to
override heritage principles and that the effectiveness of heritage legislation depends upon
the political will of federal, state and local governments to enforce it.
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The thesis includes case studies of several major and smaller developments which
describe in detail the heritage political processes and why heritage legislation failed to
protect Adelaide's traditional character during the Bannon decade. This contemporary
topic relied heavily on oral history, newspaper andjournal accounts ofissues and events, as
well as official documents such as Hansard and state government and council minutes and
reports. It adds to the work of South Australian historians and heritage historians,
particularly Graeme Davison and Chris McConville in Victoria, Robert Freestone and Peter
Spearritt in Sydney and Jenny Gregory and Roy Jones in Perth.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am extremely grateful to my supervisor, Professor Wilfrid Prest, for his guidance, advice
and support during his long supervision of this thesis. I also wish to thank my second
,up..ui*., Dr Peter Bell, whose knowledge of South Australian heritage and its
administration is unsurpassed. Other staff in the School of History and Politics contributed
ideas and support during the course of writing, notably Dr Rob Foster, Dr André Lambelet
and Dr Felix Patrikeeff, and I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank them for their
contributions.
I also acknowledge the important contributions made to this thesis of those I interviewed,
whose names are listed in the bibliography. Without their contributions, this thesis could
not have been written.
Several staff of various government organisations must be mentioned for their kind
assistance. Among these are David Conlon and Hamish Angas of the State Heritage
Branch, Michael Farrow and Robert Thornton of the City of Adelaide Archives, Simon
pook of the Adelaide City Council staff, Gloria Holland-Booker, formerly of the
Development Assessment Commission, and Margaret Hosking of the Barr-Smith Library.
Former alderman Michael Harrison and city manager Michael Llewellyn-Smith were
among several acquaintances and friends who read parts of my thesis and contributed
valuable comments.
Finally and most importantly, I thank my husband David Mosler for his unwavering
,.rppoit, advice and patience during the writing of this thesis, and I thank all of the other
members of Aurora Heritage Action, Inc. for their inspiration.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ABCWF Australian Building Construction'Workers Federation
AC Archives Adelaide City Archives
ACC Adelaide City Council
AFPE Adelaide Fruit and Produce Exchange (East End Market)
AHA Aurora Heritage Action, Inc.
ASER Adelaide Station and Environs Redevelopment project
ATO Australi an Taxation Office
BFC Beneficial Finance Corporation Ltd
BLF Builders Labourers Federation
BOMA Building Owners and Managers Association
BPR Bonus plot ratio
Branch State Heritage Branch
CAPAT City of Adelaide Planning Appeals Tribunal
CAPC City of Adelaide Planning Commission
CBD Central Business District
CCSA Conservation Council of South Australia
CMEU Construction, Mining and Energy Union
CMFEWU Construction, Mining, Forestry and Energy Workers Union
COAHAC City of Adelaide Heritage Advisory Committee, 1991-92
DAC Development Asses sment Committee
DEP Department of Environment and Planning
DFC Desired future character - of precincts in the City of Adelaide Plan
DMS Consultants Peter Donovan, Susan Marsden and Paul Stark
LHRC Local Heritage Review Committee, 1993-94
LOHMAC Lord Mayor's Heritage Advisory Committee 1982-83
MATS Metropolitan Adelaide Transportation System
MEP Minister for Environment and Planning
NEAR North East Adelaide Redevelopment Pty. Ltd.
NGO Non- government organis ation
PAC Planning Approvals Committee of Adelaide City Council to 1986
PAR Plan Amendment Report amending a Development Plan of the Development
Act 1993
Plan City of Adelaide Plan
PEC Planning and Environment Committee of the Adelaide City Council 1986 -
1993 (formerly the Planning Approvals Committee)
RAIA Royal Australian Institute of Architecture SA Chapter
REMM Real Estate Marketing & Management
RNE Register of the National Estate
SAFA South Australian Financing Authority
SASFIT South Australian Superannuation Fund Investment Trust
SAHC South Australian Heritage Committe
SAPC South Australian Planning Commission
SBSA State Bank of South Australia
SGIC State Government Insurance Commission
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SPU Special Projects unit of the Department of the Premier and cabinet
TAGs Townscape Advisory Groups
TFA Transferable Floor Area
USC Urban Systems Corporation
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CHRONOLOGY
1963 Construction begun on 7-storey Hotel Australia, Brougham Place, North Adelaide
t967 Hackney Redevelopment Project approved; abandoned after public protest
1968 Metropolitan Adelaide Transport System (MATS) Plan approved; abandoned t97l
1969 Successful campaign to save Carclew in North Adelaide
1970 Formation of the North Adelaide Society
t97l Successful campaign to save ANZ Bank lEdmund Wright House], King William St
Demolition of the South Australian Hotel, North Terrace
Green bans Builders Laborers Federation begun in New South Wales
t912 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the V/orld Cultural and Natural Heritage
t973 Unsuccessful campaign to save Education Building in Flinders Street
t974 Australian Heritage Commis sion Act
Victorian Historic Buildings Act (1974)
Formation of the Adelaide Residents' Association
t976 City of Adelaide (Development Contol) Act (1976)
1977 City of Adelaide Planning Commission constituted
First City of Adelaide Plan gazetted as a schedule to City of Adelaide (Development
Control) Act (1976)
New SouthWales Heritage Act (1977)
lg78 South Australian Heritage Act (1978): establishment of State Heritage Committee
1979 Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance (Burra Charter)
adopted by ICOMOS
1979-82 First listings on Register of State Heritage Items
1980 Successful campaign to stop development in Dimora grounds, East Terrace,
Adelaide
1981 Unsuccessful campaign to save the Majestic Theatre and Hotel in King William
Street