Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
TO: OfficeOfTheDeputyPremier@sa.gov.au
SUBJECT: Crown and Anchor Hotel
BODY:
Dear Deputy Premier Susan Close MP,
We call on you to protect the 171-year-old Crown and Anchor Hotel (aka ‘The Cranker’) from demolition.
Specifically, we request that you lobby Minister Nick Champion to urgently implement a policy in line with Recommendation 12 of the Planning System Implementation Review by separating the assessment of heritage-listed places from the PDI Act.
This policy must also ensure proper cultural and heritage preservation until legislative changes can be passed.
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Say something personalise your letter here. Feel free to pluck some details from your SCAP proposal.
Please include a short something about how the Cranker factors into your life. No need to overthink it.
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The Cranker is one of the few commercially successful live music venues Adelaide has left. For over 30 years, it has continued to thrive when so many others struggle or fail and publican, Tom Skipper, wishes to continue trading indefinitely.
The Malinauskas Government says it understands how important arts and culture are in South Australia and that they are continuing to support our incredible local venues and musicians. Adelaide faces a looming crisis of culture, having lost 15 venues in the last 15 months. – we cannot afford to lose one of its linchpins.
The Cranker has considerable cultural and heritage value for the city. It is:
● A year-round beacon of vibrancy in the East End, the cultural hub of the CBD.
● One of the best, and only, small-to-mid-sized music venues in Adelaide, with live music seven nights a week (the only pub in the city which does)
● Host to local, national, and international bands.
● A crucial incubator of local talent in the music industry (from bands, to mixers, to booking agents, to managers, to lighting operators).
● Renowned for being a safe and welcoming establishment for a diverse crowd (including uni students).
● Situated on a main bus route and close to a taxi rank.
● A tourist attraction.
● Regular employer of uni students as bar staff.
The Crown & Anchor Hotel deserves recognition and preservation as a significant building.
There is need for policy to be made about the interaction between the PDI Act and the Heritage Places Act. Specifically, regarding PDI Act s 132(4) which outlines that a place given provisional State Heritage Place (SHP) status must be considered to have SHP status from the same day as the development application was lodged.
A solution could be for you, as Minister of Environment and Water, making a policy—alongside the Minister for Planning—which states that the State Planning Commission must reject development proposals relating to provisional State Heritage Places on the grounds that they cannot reasonably be assessed.
The SA Government puts in place initiatives like See It Live to ‘bring SA’s music seen back to life’, yet the continuing loss of venues on your watch sets a worrying trend.
While your government has offered large amounts of public funding for FIFO festivals and sporting events, there has been a manifest failure in both policy and funding terms to recognise that the South Australian music industry requires considered investment across a complex cultural ecosystem.
This investment does not always need to be in the form of grants for ailing venues. It can be a commitment to protect from demolition historic music venues which are established, financially secure, and beloved by the community and music industry.
This isn’t just any pub.
It is one of Adelaide’s most vital and beloved. Though saddened, the music community did not take to the streets in large numbers to protest to loss of the other pubs. The reaction to this threat to the Cranker speaks volumes about the pub’s role in the city.
That 3000 people took part in the Save Our Cranker rally and almost 25,000 members of the public signed the petition—a number equivalent to an entire electorate—speaks volumes about the pub’s beloved status in the city. This is a loss we cannot stand. Adelaide cannot hope to hold on to the title of UNESCO City of Music if it is willing to allow the loss of successful cornerstone venues like the Crown & Anchor.
The sizeable groundswell of opposition to the development indicates that there is a significant risk of alienating the creative arts and music sector. It is clear this is not just a local issue but a significant electoral concern across the state about what happens in the city. The community demands a government that prioritises intelligent planning strategy which balances heritage and cultural values with the need for development. There is room for both.
Deputy Premier, your support can galvanise public opinion and demonstrate Labor’s leadership in integrating community needs with our state’s development objectives.
We acknowledge the need for more housing in the city, including for students - but fundamentally reject the false dichotomy that this must come at the expense of the cultural institutions that make Adelaide desirable and vibrant.
What we are asking for is simply that you act on this immediately to inhibit a current development proposal that is not in-line with the government’s, or community’s, expectations. Inaction now will result in an irreversible outcome.
Thank you for considering this call to action. Your leadership is crucial in ensuring that our heritage and planning laws and government actions reflect the collective will of the people and preserve the cultural landmarks that define our city.
We call on you as passionate South Australians and lovers of music to back your State and the people and places that make it special.
Support this cultural landmark and help us ensure that our city's development does not come at the cost of its soul.
We ask you to look to the legacy of great Labor Premiers like Don Dunstan and take action so that the Malinauskas Government is remembered by future generations as a protector and champion of South Australian culture.
Sincerely,
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