Sharing the Council-wide Centres Review

The Council-wide Centres Review (Centres Review) is an independent strategic document prepared by planning and economic consultants Urbis. 

The Review examines the role and performance of Playford's existing and planned activity centres, considers future retail demand and growth, and provides an evidence base and assessment framework to support Council's future strategic planning.

Activity centres are retail and commercial hubs that provide shops, services, employment and places for people to meet. They range from small local shopping centres that meet day-to-day needs through to larger centres that provide a wider range of retail, business, health, hospitality, entertainment and community services. 

Each activity centre plays a different role depending on its location, size, surrounding population and the range of services it provides. 

For the purposes of the Centres Review, service stations are not considered activity centres. 

The Centres Review set out to: 

• find out how our existing activity centres are operating and what role they are playing in the community  

• determine whether there is an appropriate distribution of existing and planned activity centres across Playford  

• investigate the future need for additional retail floor area and/or new activity centres  

• create a consistent framework to deal with proposals for new activity centres. 

The Centres Review will provide an evidence base to support Council's future decision-making, including: 

• responding to unsolicited proposals  

• assessing future centre opportunities  

• guide policy development on activity centre planning.  

The Centres Review is an evidence-based strategic document. It does NOT: 

• approve or reject development applications 

• change planning rules or zoning  

• decide which retailers or businesses operate within activity centres  

• identify activity centres for closure 

• approve future activity centre locations or planning outcomes. 

The Review may inform future planning, zoning or activity centre proposals, but it does not make these decisions itself. 

Any future planning changes, Code Amendments or development proposals would be subject to separate assessment and, where required, statutory decision-making processes and, where required, community engagement. 

Council is sharing the independently prepared Centres Review to help stakeholders, and the broader community understand its purpose, scope and findings.  

We are also providing an opportunity for people to share their views on whether the findings align with their local knowledge and experiences. 

The engagement is not intended to seek input into or changes to the Centres Review itself.

Anyone interested in the Centres Review can share their views. This may include: 

• centre owners and operators  

• business owners and tenants  

• developers and landowners  

• community organisations and service providers  

• interested community members.  

Responses will help Council understand how the Review's findings align with the local knowledge and experiences of stakeholders and community members. 

Council will prepare a What We Heard Report summarising the views shared through the engagement. The report will be published on Council's Engagement Hub and shared with people who choose to stay informed about the project.

If you would like to share your views, you can complete the short online form.