Feb 01 2025 46 mins 4
The battle lines are drawn over UniSA’s Magill campus site, where a proposal to rezone from community use to residential threatens to replace a cherished green space with up to 400 dwellings. As urban infill pushes local infrastructure to its limits, Magill Matters representatives Denise MacGregor and Charlotte Reimer make their case for preserving this vital community asset, home to 350 trees (some predating colonial settlement), thriving wildlife corridors, and essential recreational spaces.
While there is no SA Drink of the Week in this episode, the thirst for preservation of community assets runs deep through every moment of the conversation, as does the sobering realisation that once green spaces are lost to development, they’re gone forever.
In a poignant Musical Pilgrimage, The Danger Dolphins’ “Blackfish Blues” serves as an unintentionally perfect soundtrack to the episode’s themes, its raw, blues-driven exploration of confinement resonating with both the threatened creek-dwelling creatures and future residents who might find themselves in an area stripped of its natural cooling canopy.
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Running Sheet: We Will Discover Destroying UniSA Magill Matters When The Green Has Gone And Temperatures And Tempers Rise
00:00:00 Intro
Introduction
00:00:00 SA Drink Of The Week
There is no South Australian Drinks Of The Week this week.
00:07:25 Denise MacGregor and Charlotte Reimer, Magill Matters
Standing at Third Creek on the UniSA site, one immediately understands what developers might miss in their spreadsheet calculations. The space serves as a vital community hub where the background hum of urban life fades away, creating what our guests describe as a “movie set” atmosphere of tranquility. From early morning Tai Chi practitioners to soccer-playing families and solitary readers, the campus grounds provide what Denise MacGregor poignantly describes as “dwelling spaces, not just dwellings” – a profound distinction in an era of shrinking private yards.
The land’s history deepens its significance, having been bequeathed by Sir George Murray in 1942 to the university for community and educational purposes. This legacy faces an uncertain future as plans emerge for potential medium to high-density residential development, which could see buildings up to six storeys high replacing the current green space.
Magill Matters advocates aren’t opposed to all development but propose creative alternatives that would maintain the site’s community focus while addressing housing needs. Their vision includes repurposing existing buildings for aged care facilities (addressing Minister Champion’s goal of freeing up family homes), maintaining recreational spaces, and preserving the vital green corridor that helps cool the suburb by up to 5 degrees Celsius.
Links:
Magill Matters, public Facebook group
00:37:20 Musical Pilgrimage
In the Musical Pilgrimage, we feature Blackfish Blues by The Danger Dolphins.
For our Musical Pilgrimage this week, we’re diving into “Blackfish Blues” by Adelaide’s The Danger Dolphins, and the timing couldn’t be more poignant. As we’ve discussed the proposed rezoning of UniSA’s Magill campus, this raw, blues-driven track speaks to the confinement and constraints that echo through our main discussion.
When Zac sings “Nothing changes every day, another dolphin out of sea, just glass between you and me,” it’s hard not to think of both the threatened creek-dwelling creatures and future residents who might find themselves in an area stripped of its natural cooling canopy and breathing spaces.
The Danger Dolphins, born from late-night jam sessions between Zac Gerhardy and Nick Barone, have crafted a song that, while written about a different context, resonates deeply with the environmental concerns surrounding Third Creek’s ecosystem. Their sound, influenced by Led Zeppelin and The Black Keys, brings a powerful urgency to themes of restriction and environmental impact that mirror our concerns about urban development’s effect on both wildlife habitats and human wellbeing.
While “Blackfish Blues” is a few years old now, The Danger Dolphins have recently released an EP, Jam Factory Vol. II, which captures their raw energy in a stripped-back two-day recording session that feels worlds away from their meticulously produced Vol. I. For a chance to experience their evolution in the flesh – and witness what they’re cryptically calling “a sneaky lil on stage treat” – catch them at the High Fever Festival at Macclesfield’s Three Brothers Arms on Saturday, February 8. With free camping available, you can let loose without watching the clock.
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