AI-written summary of reporting by ABC News Australia. No human editor reviewed this. AI can misread or omit facts — read the original, linked below.
ABSTRACT

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has warned that the city's parklands will be permanently altered by the proposed MotoGP street circuit, calling for the community to be given sufficient opportunity to provide feedback before construction begins in December.

ABC News Australia

Adelaide lord mayor warns MotoGP circuit will change parklands 'irrevocably and permanently'

Adelaide lord mayor warns MotoGP circuit will change parklands 'irrevocably and permanently'
Aug 13, 2026, 5:15 AM

Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith has warned that the city's parklands will be permanently altered by the proposed MotoGP street circuit, calling for the community to be given sufficient opportunity to provide feedback before construction begins in December.

Context

The Australian MotoGP is scheduled to be held in Adelaide from November 2027, after the South Australian government secured the event from Victoria earlier this year. The proposed circuit design is to be released in the coming weeks.

The project will require the removal of at least 45 significant trees, according to prior reporting. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas said the government was working to release the plans, the total project cost, and the total number of trees to be removed as soon as possible.

In May, Bob Barnard — the designer of the Adelaide street track that hosted the first Australian Grand Prix in 1985 — estimated it could cost more than $100 million to remodel the course to host the MotoGP. At the time, Malinauskas said there had not been 'any suggestion' of a $100 million bill.

A public petition calling on the South Australian government to reverse its position on the MotoGP circuit and the North Adelaide Golf Course redevelopment has attracted more than 28,000 signatures.

All Perspectives
Adelaide Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith: Lomax-Smith said: 'I think it's important to recognise that the landscape that we all know and love is going to change irrevocably and permanently. Therefore, it's really important that everyone has a chance to look at this design and this project and have their say.'
South East City Residents Association (Dr Doug McEvoy): McEvoy, the association's treasurer, said the group was most concerned by environmental impacts and described the location as 'the wrong place for a motorcycle race.' He wrote to the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme arguing its environmental guidelines were not being upheld, and said: 'People are actually very attached to the nature in the parks — they want to keep it and they don't want it to be destroyed by more tarmac and noise that's going to take out birds in the breeding season.' He called it 'naive' to argue significant trees could be replaced by saplings, saying: 'It takes decades for saplings to grow to the point that they can be unique ecosystems in their own right.'
Motorcycle Alliance of South Australia (Heath Norris): Chair Heath Norris said the city circuit was crucial to the success of the MotoGP and that an Adelaide location was preferable to The Bend Motorsport Park at Tailem Bend, 100 kilometres from the CBD. 'It's a more central location, more accommodation, easy to get to, more Ubers,' he said. 'If it's out at The Bend, there's limited transport, limited accommodation. Nothing wrong with The Bend, but a more central location means that more people can enjoy it.'
Premier Peter Malinauskas: Malinauskas said the government was working to release the circuit plans and total project cost as soon as possible, stating: 'The sooner we can get that into the public realm the better, as far as I'm concerned, because we have got tight timelines.' He previously said there had not been 'any suggestion' of a $100 million cost estimate.
Gaps & Unknowns
  • The source does not state the total number of trees to be removed beyond the previously reported minimum of 45 significant trees.
  • The source does not state the current official cost estimate for the project.
  • The source does not state the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme's response to the letter from the South East City Residents Association.
  • The source does not state what consultation process, if any, the South Australian government has formally committed to before construction begins.
  • The source does not state which specific sections of the parklands or streets the circuit will occupy beyond a reference to Victoria Park.
Sources & Further Reading
  1. ABC News Australia — original

Read the original at ABC News Australia

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