The City of Adelaide condemns the actions of the SA Motorsport Board exploring a plan to turn a picturesque part of Adelaide's premium Park Lands into a mobile home camping ground for this year's Adelaide 500.
The organisers of the Adelaide 500 have sought access for an extra 16,000 square metres of Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka for this year's event to potentially operate a Recreational Vehicle (RV) Park.
As part of the proposal there will be space for up to 150 motorhomes to set up camp during the event, which runs from November 23 to 26.
Under the South Australian Motorsport Act, the City of Adelaide has no power to stop the organisers of the Adelaide 500 from taking over the Park Lands to run the event.
However, the Council is staggered they want to use a pristine part of the eastern Park Lands as a trailer park.
Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said the issue of a possible RV camp at Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka will be discussed by Council on Tuesday night.
"I was utterly shocked and appalled to only learn today that the Adelaide 500 wants to put 150 camper vans on the Park Lands," said the Lord Mayor.
"This is a completely inappropriate use of this space and sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the integrity of our natural Park Lands.
"I have many unanswered questions surrounding the issue of sewage disposaland the likelihood of camp fires and barbeques," she said.
The Lord Mayor said the Council has been in discussions with the Motorsport Board for months about the Adelaide 500 before a formal request for extra space was made last month without full disclosure about why it was needed.
"Now, with only six weeks remaining before the event, they have disclosed that they are planning a motorhome campground without any full consultation," she said.
"I am appalled by this proposal. Just because they can do this under Motorsport legislation, doesn't make it right or respectful of a civic space that should regarded as sacrosanct like Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London.
"There is a real risk that they are going to turn our Park Lands into a giant motorsport trailer park like Mount Panorama or the Daytona 500."
The Lord Mayor was among elected members who had first asked why the Quentin Kenihan Inclusive Playspace was being fenced off during the event, leading to the disclosure of the proposed trailer park.
