Alexandrina Council Mayor Keith Parkes says residents of Goolwa do not want the entrance of their town to become a housing development. 

The state government recently announced it would initiate an amendment to the planning and design code that could allow 2,500 houses to be built on 241 hectares of privately owned land at Goolwa North.

The project would be part of the government's wider plan to tackle the housing crisis in the state.

Mr Parkes said Goolwa residents did not want the entrance to their town to be a housing development of small blocks with large houses.

"We don't want it to look like it does between Wistow and Mount Barker," he said.

Mr Parkes said the area lacked an industry centre to provide enough full-time jobs for potential new residents and they would potentially have to travel by car to Mount Barker, Adelaide, or Murray Bridge for work.

Goolwa is about 80km south of the centre of Adelaide, at the mouth of the Murray River.

Mr Parkes said a local planning consultant had identified 2,000 blocks of infill land across the southern Alexandrina council area that could be developed on an ongoing basis.

"They could be utilised right now without touching that beautiful farming land, that prime farming land," he said.

Urgent need for land

The 241ha site is owned by prospective developers Ambo Pty Ltd, which described the site as vacant and of limited agricultural, horticultural, or mining value in documents submitted to Plan SA.

It said the land was within an identified growth area in a town with an urgent need for land supply and the intention was to provide a low-density and low-scale development.

Talking to ABC Radio Adelaide, Planning Minister Nick Champion said his government had to address the housing crisis and the only way it could be done was with more housing supply.

The code amendment process, which will involve consultation, could take six to 12 months to be completed, with another 12 months allowed for civil works to be put in place before any building could start.

Mr Champion said he was keen to work with local governments.

"They need to do their local planning and tell us where they want density, tell us where they want housing supply in their own communities because we do have a housing crisis and that is caused, in part, by supply," he said.

Mr Champion said the Goolwa North site had been identified as an area of potential growth by the council some years ago.

However, Mr Parkes said, while the site had previously been included by governments in the greater Adelaide 30-year plan, the council and community "overwhelmingly" rejected the proposed development of the site in 2021.

Balancing interests

Hans Pieters, the program director for urban and regional planning with the University of South Australia, said while it was understandable Goolwa residents might feel concerned about the development and should ask questions, planners had to balance the interests of the existing community and the broader interest of the state government in regard to housing affordability.

He said the approval of code amendments was never a foregone conclusion and the site did have considerable environmental considerations to be addressed, including the proximity of Currency Creek.

He said the process would also consider the social impact and demand on existing schools and services and utilities.

Goolwa the Cittaslow community

Goolwa became Australia's first Cittaslow town in 2007, making it part of an international movement resisting the homogenisation of towns.

Cittaslow Goolwa president Michael Keen said, if the Goolwa North housing development went ahead, it should be an opportunity for a model community with low-carbon footprint housing and communal water tanks and solar batteries.

Mr Keen echoed Mr Parkes' call for the planning minister to visit Goolwa.

In a statement, the planning minister said he encouraged all stakeholders to provide feedback during the consultation process.