Work is underway to give national park visitors easier access to some of Adelaide's popular sites as part of the Marshall Liberal Government's record investment in parks across South Australia.
Morialta Conservation Park in Adelaide's east and Mark Oliphant Conservation Park in the Adelaide Hills are the first projects to receive funding as part of a $1.5 million investment to boost visitor experience, improve safety and increase car parking capacity.
An increase in visitation at Mark Oliphant Conservation Park in the Adelaide Hills in recent years has seen a greater demand on parking near the Scott Creek Road entrance at Longwood.
Working with the park's volunteers and local businesses, the Marshall Liberal Government will extend the existing carpark by approximately 20 spaces, improve signage to the park's trail network and provide better access for visitors to reach the surrounding walking trail network and neighbouring businesses.
Nestled eight kilometres east of Adelaide, Morialta Conservation Park is home to the popular Mukanthi Nature Play Space.
The new funding will enable the current temporary dirt carpark located near the Mukanthi Nature Play Space to be formalised and connected to the existing bitumen carpark on Stradbroke Road, and provision for dedicated bus parking areas are also being investigated.
The play space is hugely popular, putting pressure on the carpark located adjacent to the site and forcing visitors' vehicles to spill onto neighboring streets.
Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said both these investments are part of the Marshall Liberal Government's Parks 2025 initiative which is investing record funding into open spaces across South Australia.
"Parks 2025 represents a once-in-a-generation investment in conserving our unique natural environment, activating nature-based tourism and stimulating regional economies in South Australia," Minister Speirs said.
"We are currently seeing record visitor numbers to our national parks so it's important we continue to upgrade facilities to improve the visitor experience. The Marshall Liberal Government is also employing more park rangers who are our frontline workers when it comes to on the ground park management and conservation.
"This new funding will help build the capacity of parks across our state to conserve our natural landscapes and wildlife, boost the state economy and create local jobs.
"The State Government will work collaboratively with the community and the park's passionate volunteers to ensure a smooth delivery of the projects at both Morialta and Mark Oliphant conservation parks."
Member for Morialta John Gardner said the upgrades at Morialta Conservation Park will be warmly welcomed by the local community.
"The Mukanthi Nature Play Space at Morialta Conservation Park is hugely popular with local families and visitors alike," Minister Gardner said.
"An upgrade of the surrounding parking will provide a very welcome enhancement to safety for everyone who enjoys our special park."
Member for Heysen Josh Teague said parking at Mark Oliphant Conservation Park had become an issue in recent years.
"The upgrades at Mark Oliphant Conservation Park will allow more people to visit this popular park as well as better link it with surrounding walking trails," Mr Teague said.
The upgrades at Morialta Conservation Park are worth $700,000 and the upgrades at Mark Oliphant Conservation Park are worth $250,000.
Visit www.parks.sa.gov.au for more information.
