Green Adelaide has unveiled a plan to reinvigorate the River Torrens in Adelaide’s CBD to create a cooler, greener and wilder attraction for locals and visitors.
Announced by Minister for Environment and Water, David Speirs, Green Adelaide’s Transforming the Torrens Program is to be delivered over the next four years in partnership with the City of Adelaide, with sites to be selected based on ecological and amenity values.
Mr Speirs said the Program would establish a series of wetlands and revegetate areas along a 3km section of the River Torrens in the CBD, between the Torrens Weir and Hackney Bridge.
“The Program is about bringing nature right into the heart of the city and it will also help further improve water quality along the river, particularly in Torrens Lake, with more native plants and a series of wetland habitats,” Mr Speirs said.
Board Presiding Member of Green Adelaide, Chris Daniels said the Program would help create a cooler, greener and wilder city and complement the scoping study that was exploring the reintroduction of platypus to the Torrens.
“The River Torrens has come a long way, and with today’s improved native vegetation and water quality this new program will help fast-track the Torren’s health in the CBD, and pave the way for the future dream of having platypus in the Torrens,” Professor Daniels said.
He said planning for the Program was expected to begin early next year, with on-ground action to start from late 2022.
Lord Mayor of the City of Adelaide, Sandy Verschoor said the Program would improve the ecological health, water quality and amenity of the Torrens Lake, while providing educational, social, cultural and tourism benefits for the Riverbank Precinct.
