Felicity Martin

2022 candidate for Regional Council of Goyder.
Heritage survey responses.

1. Do you think that Councils and community members need to have a greater voice in planning and development decisions affecting their local area?
   Definitely need to have all community members with equitable access, open and transparent development meetings with restrictions on the exploitation of commetcial in confidence and incamera sessions. When confluct of interest is found decisions should be overturned, and DAP committees should have local community members in a meaningful proportion.the also shpuld be funding for monitoring for compliance.

2. What role should Councils play in protecting local heritage places from demolition or inappropriate development?
   They should have a strong role that reflects the values of stakeholders, particularly those directly affected by decisions, there is huge ongoing irreversible destruction of remnant vegetation, ancient indigenous sites, rare vegetation and fauna with the current industrialisation of rural regions.

3. How would you seek to improve protections for heritage places in your area?
   Make sure they are listed, and that independent assessment processes that meaningfully include local communities are used, as oposed to rubber stamping, and time wasting information sessions which are misleading in presentations such as montages, masking as comsultation.

4. We rarely see new places added to local heritage listings. Why do you think this is?
   I do feel many heritage sites are lost through onerous restrictions that are unaffordable to owners, but would be valuable if temporalily protecting a property from further deterioration. This has seen countless sites become ruins.

5. How has the Planning and Design Code impacted on the heritage, amenity, and environment of your area? What changes would you seek to the Code?
   The state government, and Australian government are overriding heritage quality ecosystems and culturally significant areas in favour of politically popular developments, regardless of evidence the short term outcomes pale incomparison to long term benifits of retaining sites. A classic example is the convenient overlooking of significant indigenous rock art in Goyder, or Australia's most significant gum tree est at 3-4000 years old to facilitate wind developments.

6. What are the impacts of infill development in your area? What changes would you seek in the rules around infill development?
   The capping and filling of ridgetops for large scale wing developments has had negative impacts on aquifer replenishment zones, springs, and potable water in rural communities near industrial wind developments. Each turbine has sometimes over 1000 cubic metres of concrete under each turbine with 4 acres cleared per turbine with no intention of restoration. Eagle and bat populations have been obliterated.

7. Construction of new housing typically uses 30% labour and 70% materials. Renovation of existing housing stock typically uses 70% labour and 30% materials. What policy changes would you like to see made to encourage people to renovate, rather than demolish and build anew?
   The embedded energy in the existing structure is also important, so l defintely practice and prefer retaining existing structures, while also retsining aquifer replenishment capacity by not sealing with concrete and bitumen... the trend has seen Adelaide Hills water reduced to extremely poor quality with high salinity.

8. How should the community be informed and involved in decisions about new developments?
   Being allowed into DAP meetings, not banned through incamera. Having support with costs in putting in responses to proposals, and more hard copies on loan.

9. Do you think there is adequate tree canopy across your local government area?
   NO

10. How would you like to see significant and regulated trees in your area protected from removal?
    By stopping governments at state and local level overriding people with knowledge and love of local heritage, health and wellbeing, through the extremely dysfunctional ERD Court process.

11. What involvement should Councils have in decisions about protecting or removing significant and regulated trees?
    It should go to public consultation at a local level. With open and transparent access to process and outcomes.

12. What actions would you advocate to slow or mitigate the impacts of climate change in your local government area?
    Not using a renewable sector such as wind which has the biggest footprint of all energy sectors at the expense of other reliable renewable industries. Having a corruption inquiry as to why this sector has inequitable and unsustainable proportion of energy production.

13. What issues are there with traffic and parking in your area?
    Heavy roadtrains are a huge burden on rates and local communitues

14. How could transport options be improved in your area?
    Rail.

15. What would your top three priorities be for improving planning policy and outcomes in your local government area?
    Review the DAP and ERD court process, release Ombudsman findings, not remive them from public access
    Reduce the expense of entering the ERD court process, and shift the balance from allowing expert evidence from industry that is clearly false and biased
    Remove those from office who are found to act with conflict of interest and mandate reporting such.