Conservation Council SA are concerned that the City of Port Lincoln appears ti have largely ignored its environmental stewardship responsibilities in its key planning document for the city. Indeed, the word ‘environment’ only appears twice in the entire draft Plan in a (vaguely) positive way, and most instances of environmental matters – predominantly native vegetation – are routinely described in the negative (with only a few notable exceptions), as if intact and connected ecological services have no meaningful impact upon the prosperity of the city, the amenity of its neighbourhoods, or the wellbeing of its residents. The document reads like it was written by a housing developer, rather than a holistic town plan to ambitiously deliver an attractive place to live for all its citizens.
This is in stark contrast to the ordinary approach being taken elsewhere across the State and Australia, where environmental targets and vision have long been recognised as being key to effective, citizen-centric city planning.
We strongly recommend that the City of Port Lincoln revisit the entire draft Plan to ensure that there is a vision for protecting, restoring, connecting and integrating its unique nature into a modern, future Port Lincoln. Whilst we are not so naïve as to think that environmental matters can always take precedence over every other priority, they are still a key priority to factor into contemporary urban planning for a modern, forward-thinking city – and Port Lincoln is blessed with more environmental assets than most. We urge the City to fully grasp the opportunities that its amazing nature offers its community’s future.