Rita Kuhlmann

2022 candidate for City of Playford.
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?
   We need to find a way to balance the opinions of life long residents and those who are new to the area. Presumably both live in the area because they like the facilities and public spaces. Importantly, we should not prioritize the views of developers and fly in, fly out workers over permanent residents.

2. What role should Councils play in protecting local heritage places from demolition or inappropriate development?
   Councils should appoint a committee to preserve heritage sites located within the council area. These committees could decide the historical significance of each site and decide what development is appropriate.

3. How would you seek to improve protections for heritage places in your area?
   There could be a statute written for sites over a certain age which would make it very difficult to get approval for development.

4. We rarely see new places added to local heritage listings. Why do you think this is?
   I think there are a lot of bureaucrats who don't see our state in a favorable light. The idea of heritage may be undesirable to them. They may not even know very much local history. Providing the site is of great historical significance, preservation is important for future generations, and a heritage listing is a good way to highlight the importance of a site to our state's history.

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?
   In my opinion, it appears that if you are a developer you are encouraged to ask for permission to do as you like, and you will probably get it no matter what the rules are.

6. What are the impacts of infill development in your area? What changes would you seek in the rules around infill development?
   If there is a minimum block size currently required, it needs to be doubled. Good fences make good neighbours - if you don't have a fence and instead you share a common house wall then what will you get? These houses are not homes, they are boxes.

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?
   If it is made easier and cheaper to get approval for renovations that would encouraged home owners to re-consider their plans.

8. How should the community be informed and involved in decisions about new developments?
   I think that councils need to be considerate of the established community before approving a development that will substantially impact on their property. It is my opinion that councils are often more interested in how much money they will raise in rates, so they would rather have 1000 new residences instead of only 100.

9. Do you think there is adequate tree canopy across your local government area?
   I know that it can be difficult to balance tree canopy and public safety. The fact is that if house blocks were bigger then you could have more trees without increasing the risk of one falling on someone's house. 'Adequate' is very subjective, but I would like more canopy.

10. How would you like to see significant and regulated trees in your area protected from removal?
    I'm concerned that whenever a developer wants to remove a significant tree, the meaning of significant is changed. I would like wildlife corridors to be recognized and protected from destruction.

11. What involvement should Councils have in decisions about protecting or removing significant and regulated trees?
    Councils should care more about their tree canopy than a third party, but we also need to elect councilors who care about the natural environment so that when they have the power to protect trees they will.

12. What actions would you advocate to slow or mitigate the impacts of climate change in your local government area?
    I think that litter has the potential to be a big problem in the future, keeping our wetlands and parkland rubbish free will be crucial.

13. What issues are there with traffic and parking in your area?
    There are bottle necks at particular times of day but I think our city is pretty well planned, car parking is not usually a problem.

14. How could transport options be improved in your area?
    There are train and bus services easily accessed, and there are plenty of service stations and taxi ranks. I know there is always room for improvement, but short of a very specific situation a person may be, in I don't know that there are any options that haven't been explored.

15. What would your top three priorities be for improving planning policy and outcomes in your local government area?
    Consideration for wildlife
    The safety of women & children
    Respect for the elderly & disabled