A major step has been taken in transforming the 10-hectare Clipsal site at Bowden into one of Australia’s leading Transit Oriented Developments (TODs), with a consortium appointed to help prepare the Master Plan.

HASSELL and Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) consortium will work on the planning exercise with the principal stakeholder group, led by the Land Management Corporation (LMC).

Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon today made the announcement and released the first concept images of a redeveloped Clipsal site, to be known as ‘Bowden Village’.

“This is one of the most important master planning exercises we will undertake in South Australia,” he said.

“The Clipsal site is a much sought after location that provides a once in a generation opportunity to develop a sustainable green village right on the City’s doorstep.”

“We want a plan based around rapid-transit, with people living and working in an energy and water-efficient development, with an affordable and broad range of housing to accommodate a growing population.”

“It will set the standard for the type of transit oriented developments we want to see along our electrified public transport routes.”

“TODs will help people lower their living costs and make our state an even more competitive place to do business.”

City of Charles Sturt Mayor Harold Anderson said addressing sustainability is critical to the success of the Bowden Village project.

“We are particularly pleased to see that Hassell/PB team has proposed to investigate the potential for Bowden Village to be a flagship One Planet Living Community,” he said.

“Achieving this target – or even becoming an exemplary project – will be a real step in the right direction towards implementing Council’s own One Planet Living – Greening the Western Suburbs environmental sustainability plan.”

The HASSELL/PB proposal won from a field of over twenty tenderers, representing a mix of South Australian, interstate and overseas teams.

Hassell is one of Australia’s leading architectural, planning and urban design firms. PB is one of the world’s leading planning, environment and infrastructure firms.

HASSELL/PB will commence the project immediately and will work with the principal stakeholder group on preparatory work for commencing the master planning study.

The group is comprised of:

• Land Management Corporation (LMC)
• Department For Transport, Energy and Infrastructure (DTEI)
• Department of Planning and Local Government (DPLG)
• The City of Charles Sturt

The study will include a community engagement program, details of which will be made available soon. The master planning process will run through to October 2009.

As part of the State Government’s strategy to develop a series of TODs across metropolitan Adelaide over the next 30 years, Mr Conlon will be joined by the Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Paul Holloway, on a joint public and private sector investigation to examine successful transit-oriented developments in the US and Europe.

“The timing of the tour is ideal to feed back lessons learned into the study before the Master Plan and Urban Design Guidelines for Bowden Village are prepared,” Mr Conlon said.