The State Government adopted and distributed a Population Policy for the State, ‘Prosperity through People’, in March 2004. This advocates a population increase for the State to an optimum population of two million by the year 2050. The City of Playford has embraced the Population Policy for South Australia as an opportunity to consider the future growth scenarios for the Council area as a first step in articulating a strategic vision about the City’s population growth. This will enable Council to position community growth in a strategic context to ensure it can facilitate appropriate development and prosper without detriment to the existing environment, community and its values.
The work undertaken to date seeks to ensure Council has a decisive approach to its community using an interventionist approach to ensure a vibrant and self sustaining population with the necessary skills and community spirit to meet the future challenges of the region.
As one of the largest Councils (in area) of Adelaide, Playford is characterised by significant areas of undeveloped rural land, intensive horticultural activities, and urban development centred around a regional centre, district centre, and three townships. It currently has an increasing population (68,650 persons census 2001) that is growing at twice the rate of both the Adelaide Statistical Division (ASD) and South Australia as a whole (ten per cent increase versus five per cent), and this trend is continuing.
The City of Playford has been analysing its population characteristics and rate of growth for some time to establish a more strategic focus in respect to the delivery of its community, corporate and infrastructure services and planning for financial sustainability in the future. This has incorporated independent population analysis to establish ‘on the ground’ projections as the demand for land and housing occurs.
Different growth scenarios impact on the future financial planning for Council, ranging from a limited growth to 90,000 persons over a 50 year period, to a high growth scenario trebling the population over this period.
Initial community consultation has identified a community desire to double the population to 130,000 residents to maintain a sustainable level of service delivery.
Road and footpath maintenance
The changes in some of Playford’s major infrastructure assets since amalgamation are illustrated in the table below.
