The State Government’s decision to avoid further rezoning land for housing at Mt Barker is a positive move, given successive governments have failed to keep up with infrastructure demands created by previous development.

Mt Barker is still struggling with a lack of infrastructure nearly 15 years on from the rezoning of 1300ha of farmland for housing in 2010 by a former Labor Government.

The Greater Adelaide Regional Plan made it clear that there is a desperate need for more housing in the greater Adelaide area, including the Hills.

But the State Government needs to ensure that it’s providing housing in the most appropriate areas – places with good access to necessary infrastructure such as public transport, road networks and healthcare and lower agricultural value.

The Government would do well to learn from past mistakes made at Mt Barker as it moves forward, to ensure it has an appropriate plan for any development that goes ahead, regardless of where it is.

Mt Barker is evidence that opening the floodgates to development first and worrying about infrastructure later simply doesn’t work.

But at the same time, it is of paramount importance that the Government doesn’t shift its focus wholly to these new development areas and ignore significant needs that are ongoing at Mt Barker.

We have seen some progress with the promise of a new hospital and new ambulance station, but there is still a huge amount of work needed, especially in the public transport sphere, as well as the completion of the Heysen Boulevard and a solution for the increasingly congested Adelaide Road.

So as the State Government looks to the future, it can’t afford to forget wrongs that have been committed in the past, both when considering creating new growth areas and addressing the ongoing needs of the Hills.