Saturday 11th April, 10am – noon

Limited to 20 participants, suitable for ages 12 & up.

Learn or practice the Wobbly Line Drawing Technique with local artist Deborah Smalley. No drawing experience necessary, anyone can draw with wobbly lines! Learn a little more about Kensington’s history as we sketch and wander along Phillips St from The Parade to the Pool.

Meet outside Karl Chehade Dry Cleaning, 296 The Parade, Kensington, ready for 10am start. We will do some warm up sketches at Chehade’s then walk a short distance to sketch another Kensington scene, pause to enjoy a drink or a snack at the High Street Café, then finish with a sketch of Kensington’s groovy 1950s public pool. All done by noon-ish.

Register & pay online through Trybooking https://www.trybooking.com/DKCWR. Tickets $20 for Kensington Residents’ Association members, $30 for others.

Paper supplied for drawings. Pens and clipboards provided for use during workshop.

We will be sketching en plein air (outdoors). Bring your own folding chair or stool, comfy walking shoes and a hat for sun or umbrella for rain.

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Working bees are held 9-11am on the 2nd Sunday of every month (except January) to maintain the understorey plants established since the project began in 2009.

Join us in the park on Sunday 12th April 2026 between 9am and 11am. We’ll be pulling out weeds, topping up mulch, tip pruning shrubs… whatever needs doing!

Volunteering locally is a great way to meet new people in your neighbourhood. Bring the kids. Invite a friend or neighbour to volunteer with you. Jobs for all ages and capabilities. No prior gardening experience necessary. All training and tools are provided. Wear enclosed footwear, hat and clothing to suit the weather. Bring your KRA volunteer vest if you have one or we’ll issue you with on on the day.

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If you can’t manage physical gardening work, you are most welcome to join us for morning tea from 11am. Free tea, coffee, and a delicious spread of morning tea treats on offer.

Borthwick Park, Thornton Street Kensington

Time and date to be advised closer to March 2027.

Bring a neighbour or neighbours to Borthwick Park.  Bring the kids. Bring favourite games or sports – bocce, frisbee, finska, footy, soccer ball, whatever you like.

Food and drinks provided by the Kensington Residents’ Association.

If you prefer your own seating, bring it along; we will have some chairs and trestle tables ready for everyone to use.

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.

Meet Kensington’s Clean Up Coordinator Peter Duffy in Borthwick Park, Thornton Street at 10am on Sunday 1st March 2026.

Wear shoes for comfortable walking, sun protection and clothing to suit the weather.

Volunteers will be given gloves and sturdy bags for waste and recyclables, and assigned one suburban block to lap and collect items discarded on the footpath. In small groups we’ll cover all of Kensington.

Regroup in Borthwick Park to drop off your collected waste and recyclables and enjoy a free brunch cooked on the park barbeques by Kensington Residents’ Association members.

The KRA clean up is registered on the CUAD website here – and you can find out more about this national clean up by clicking 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.

Council’s Senior Traffic Engineer, Rebecca van der Pennen, has advised the Kensington Residents’ Association that community consultation on the much-needed Thornton Street Zebra Crossing is complete, and the project is going ahead. Council is now progressing to detailed design and crossing installation is scheduled to occur March-June 2026.

KRA President Roger Bryson commenced lobbying Council for pedestrian safety improvements near McKellar Stewart Kindergarten in May 2024 after being approached by concerned kindy staff and parents. Roger queried the Mayor as to whether a pedestrian refuge could be placed in the middle of Thornton Street, however Council’s Manager Traffic & Integrated Transport, Gayle Buckby, counselled that there is insufficient width at the crossing point for installation of a median island. Ms Buckby suggested a zebra crossing as an alternative but expressed concern about sight lines and insufficient distance from the junction of Regent Street. Further investigation was scheduled into the Council’s list of traffic projects.

By December 2024, Rebecca van der Pennen had taken over as project lead and advised KRA that development of a concept design was underway. In January 2025 Ms van der Pennen met with KRA and McKellar Stewart Kindergarten representatives to discuss the developed concept.

Consultation letters were sent to directly impacted properties in late August 2025. On 27 November 2025 the KRA committee were informed that the surveyed community members supported the crossing concept design and Council is progressing to detailed design.

Project updates and information will continue to be available on the Council website located here: https://www.npsp.sa.gov.au/projects/thornton-street-zebra-crossing

From their former location in Franklin Street in the city, the Bikes for Refugees charity provided more than 17,000 bikes to refugees and other people in need. Cr Christel Mex of the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters and Bishop Tim Harris of St Matthew’s Church officially opened the new workshop on Friday 14th November. The Hon. Mira el Dannawi MLC also spoke during the formalities, praising the efforts of Bikes For Refugees in providing refugees with a means of transport and a sense of inclusion in Adelaide.

Opening Hours*
Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 11am-5 pm
Most Saturdays 10am-1pm

*If possible, please call or SMS before visiting.

Please contact the workshop (phone or email) if you wish to donate bikes or bike parts. The team will be able to quickly determine with a few questions whether they can use the items you wish to donate. If they can’t use your unwanted bikes/parts they will be able to direct you to alternative options for recycling.

Skilled volunteers are needed to assist with bike repairs – contact Mike Brisco at the workshop if you can help.

 Renovated bikes and second-hand bike parts are also sold to the public to raise funds for running costs and donations to aligned charities. Check Facebook Marketplace to view available bikes by clicking here. Most Saturdays the team holds a Bike Market where you can purchase a checked and serviced bike for a reasonable price or browse their collection of second hand bike parts and accessories. Note, Saturdays can be very busy, so customising of purchased bikes is not possible.

Contact via:
Email: acbwsa@gmail.com
Mobile Ph: 0406 918 787

View the workshop’s website here and for further information on the charity, click here.