In essence it was an attempt to save Council approximately $103,000 by limiting access to the Kensington & Norwood Pool. No consultation with the community was undertaken in preparing the proposal.  Separate agenda items moved to offer school students and potentially all ratepayers a free pass to the Payneham Pool when it re-opens (predicted cost $144,000 minimum) (view relevant agenda pages 1-9 here).

A short fierce burst of activism ensued!  InDaily ran a good article, including an interview with Kensington resident Trish Hansen, long-time advocate for the pool, and the KRA’s President Roger Bryson.  Read the article here.  Regular pool users and other concerned locals emailed the Mayor and Councillors ahead of the Council meeting on Tuesday night, 2 June.  Residents Trish Hansen and Tim O’Loughlin, along with KRA VP Jane Godsmark each made 5 minute deputations to the Council meeting.  There were a number of concerned residents in the public gallery observing the deputations and the Council’s deliberations. Thankyou to everyone who cares enough about this precious local place to get involved.

Finally, after much discussion, the Council voted to retain the current operating hours of the Kensington & Norwood pool and committed to engaging the community in exploring how to cultivate the vitality and future of the Pool. What a relief! 

This close call has caused us to reflect on what this pool means and has meant to our community over the past 70 years, and what role we would like it to play in the lives of future generations. 

If you’re interested in shaping or contributing to the future activation of the Kensington & Norwood Pool either email the Secretary of the KRA at contact@kra.org.au or message the We Love Norwood Pool Facebook group.

To celebrate our proud Kensington community, the KRA is organising official merchandise. These items will be available for purchase, as well as being used as prizes and recognition gifts.

Let us know what you would like to see as official Kensington 5068 merch by taking our online survey – click here – ranking the suggested items from 1 (most liked) to 14 (least liked).

The survey results are anonymous.

–Join the Borthwick Park summer watering roster!

Spend some peaceful time watering our newest plantings, watching the birds frolic in the River Redgums, and maybe meet a few locals to-ing and fro-ing through this magical green space. 

Simply email our Secretary at contact@kra.org.au to volunteer to hose-water once (or more if you like) during December-March. Please advise any dates you aren’t available.

Once the roster is finalised you’ll be advised which week and which zone of the park you’ve been allocated to water. The mid-year plantings (small or staked plants) and any stressed plants need to be watered just once in your allocated week and the task should take no more than 1-2 hours… choose your best time to water.

If you’ve not watered in the park before, we’ll arrange a time to show you the water points and all the hoses and connections stored in the park shed. We have a handy trolley to wheel the hoses to the water points.

See you in the park this summer!

Kensington Road outside Marryatville High School was one of the first locations to have new speed limit signage installed.  The 40 km/h speed limit applies on school days 8:00-9:30am and 2:00-4:00 pm, this excludes weekends, public holidays and school holidays. Look for the digital signs next time you travel along Kensington Road and familiarise yourself with the boundaries of the reduced speed zone.

Vehicle speeds are being monitored on Kensington Road. Penalties including fines and demerit points are applied if drivers exceed the 40km/h limit on school days between 8:00-9:30am and 2:00-4:00pm.

Existing ‘25 km/h when children present’ school zone speed limits will not change.  To learn more about the 40km/h School Speed Limits project, click here.

Denise Schumann OAM, Historical & Heritage Consultant, and Dr Christel Mex, SA Greens Candidate for Dunstan and local resident, will tell the tragic tale of the SA Planning System and its failure to protect one of Kensington’s oldest heritage-listed buildings at 69 High Street (c1843) from demolition.

A great opportunity to learn more about the history of Kensington, and how the planning system can improve so this doesn’t happen again.

Date: Monday 23 February at 7.00pm
Venue: The Rising Sun, 60 Bridge St, Kensington

All welcome. Gold coin donation for Hutt Street charity.
Drinks available for purchase from the bar.

Capacity to seat 50 people only. Reserve your space now through Humanitix https://events.humanitix.com/lost-forever-the-last-call-before-the-bulldozers-arrive

The KRA and concerned individuals made submissions at the first hearing, appealing to the CAP to refuse the demolition application. The decision was delayed to allow the owners time to seek additional engineering advice.

Significant research was undertaken by KRA members and local history experts, uncovering the rich history of the modest building at 69 High Street. Fearing local heritage status would be insufficient to protect the building from demolition, the KRA prepared a State Heritage Listing application for 69 High Street. The many reasons why this building is worthy of inclusion on the State Heritage Register are documented in the application, which can be downloaded by clicking here.

When the CAP met to reassess the owners’ application to demolish the building, no additional information was presented by the owners, rather a lawyer and engineer were engaged to argue the demolition case. The KRA was excluded from making further comments and presenting the results of thorough historic research for the CAP to consider. Nonetheless, to the delight of the KRA the CAP refused to permit demolition of 69 High Street.

However, late in 2025 the owner appealed to the Environment, Resources and Development Court to review the CAP decision. The KRA was excluded from participating in the appeal process which was held “in confidence”. On 18th December the owners of 69 High Street were granted approval to demolish the unique, historic building on their property.

The KRA is bitterly disappointed in the decision facilitated by the ERD Court. Apart from encouraging the owner to sell the local heritage-listed property to a renovator who respects heritage value, there appears to be nothing more that we can do to save this building. Another link to the colonial history of Kensington and South Australia will be lost.

Better protection for local heritage places – such as 69 High Street – under the Planning and Design Code has been under consideration by the State Government for the almost three years:

March 2023: Expert Panel for the Planning System final report and recommendations released. Recommendation 15 under ‘Minor and Operational Recommendations” is to refine Performance Outcome 6.1 in the Local Heritage Place Overlay to exclude deterioration due to neglect as a supporting factor for demolition, as in the State Heritage place Overlay (p. 225)

March 2024: Government response to the Expert Panel recommendations released. In reference to Reform 15, “The Government supports this recommendation” (p. 54)

June 2025: Expert Panel Implementation Program quarterly report. In reference to Reform 15, “Proposed through Assessment Improvements Code Amendment. Determination pack under review” (p. 19). (No further quarterly reports are available online.)

Friday 19 December 2025: The “Assessment Improvements Code Amendment” is finalised and adopted by the Minister for Planning. “It will come into effect once it is consolidated into the online Planning and Design Code, which is anticipated to occur on 15 January 2026”. Download the article here.

The changes approved on 19th December will give the Council Assessment Panel (CAP) the ability to consider the actions that are within the control the owner of a local heritage property, such as maintaining the condition of the building to prevent it falling into a state of irredeemable disrepair.

Perhaps 69 High Street Kensington will be the last local heritage building to be demolished unnecessarily. We can only hope.

The KRA will continue its efforts to have cultural heritage significance specifically mentioned in legislation and to change the present inequity of an owner who can make 3 representations for demolition while heritage advocates only have one opportunity to oppose.

Thank you to everyone who supports the KRA efforts to oppose destruction of the heritage buildings which add so much character and value to our wonderful Kensington Village.

This modest building at 69 High Street was formerly the Kensington Village school house. It is thought to have been built in the 1840s-1850s.

Although the building has stood firm for approximately 180 years, it now stands cordoned off, urgently requiring maintenance. In February 2025 the property owners submitted a Development Application under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA) seeking to demolish this Local Heritage building. The relevant authority considering the application is the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters Council Assessment Panel/Assessment Manager.

Both the built and natural heritage of Kensington – the character-laden buildings, the magnificent remnant river red gums, the ancient creekline – were here before we arrived. It’s important to remember that we are not so much ‘owners’ but rather ‘custodians’ of the living history in our suburb. The Kensington Residents’ Association was formed in 1977 by a group of concerned residents seeking to protect the suburb’s heritage and resolve other issues of community concern.

The Association was instrumental in the declaration of Kensington as an Historic Conservation Zone: three levels of heritage listing protect many buildings that otherwise might have been demolished. In 2014 the KRA campaigned to preserve 63 Maesbury Street (pictured below). Take a stroll down Maesbury Street to No. 63 and and you’ll see how subsequent owners successfully restored and extended this quaint cottage.

The KRA has now opposed the demolition of 69 High St through written and verbal presentations to the Council Assessment Panel (CAP). Approximately 30 KRA members and supporters attended the CAP meeting at Norwood Town Hall on 19th May 2025. Heritage consultant Sandy Wilkinson and Trent Kuchel from Urathane Solutions submitted their professional assessment that the damage to 69 High St is readily repairable, therefore demolition is not warranted. The Council Assessment Panel deferred their final decision on the 69 High Street demolition application pending further consultation.

The KRA will advertise to members when the demolition application for 69 High Street will next be considered by the CAP. The public can observe the meeting from the gallery and we encourage as many people as possible to attend to show the CAP how important heritage preservation is to the residents of Kensington.

Watch this space, watch 69 High Street, and if you share our concerns for its future write to :

Member for Dunstan, Cressida O’Hanlon MP (dunstan@parliament.sa.gov.au)

Council’s General Manager Urban Planning & Environment, Carlos Buzzetti (cbuzzetti@npsp.sa.gov.au)

Ward Councillors Christel Mex (cmex@electedmembers.npsp.sa.gov.au) and John Callisto (jcallisto@electedmembers.npsp.sa.gov.au)

A one-day music and food festival celebrating High Street Café’s 5th birthday.  

Sunday 5^th October 2025, 10am-8pm, Mary MacKillop Reserve, Phillips Street (adjacent to High Street Cafe)

Family fun from 10am  – magic show, face painting, balloon art, and more.

Acoustic sets over lunch, building to a full evening of live bands including Mr Buzzy, Eric ‘Tooch’ Santucci and the Gold Coast’s McKenzie Band. DJ between sets to keep the energy pumping!

Early bird tickets $20 adults, $10 children 5 to 15 years – buy online through Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1450788

Upgrade to $100 VIP entry (adults only) for festival entry plus premium stage-front access during headline acts with a 4-hour drinks + food package 4–8pm.

Bring your friends, enjoy the vibe, and celebrate High Street Café’s 5 Years on the Green!