Bushfire Risk Briefing and Email
This website helps people understand the SBWTAP - a proposed six storey hotel resort, nearly one and a half times the length of Adelaida oval, on very high bushfire risk land in the protected Barossa Character Preservation District — putting up to 1,000 visitors and the local community in harm’s way.
South Australia’s own planning framework was built after past fire disasters to prevent exactly this kind of avoidable risk.
The planning system says No — and so does the community.
Please read the key bushfire issues and email decision makers today to help stop this unsafe development.
We’ve learned painful lessons from Ash Wednesday, Cudlee Creek and other bushfire disasters. South Australia’s planning system was built on that experience — to protect lives, homes and landscapes from preventable loss.
The SBWTAP is proposed on protected rural land in the Barossa Character Preservation District — on an area classified as very high bushfire risk. The project breaks every safety rule designed to keep our communities safe.
We trust the planning system because it is meant to keep us safe. In this case, the system is clear about the SBWTAP development site compared with other tourist zones: it will not be safe, the chances of loss of life are higher, and the surrounding community will be put at greater risk.
Evacuating 1,000 tourists on multiple extreme fire danger days isn’t realistic. This development would place unacceptable additional strain on already stretched local volunteer emergency services during the most dangerous conditions. The State’s own planning framework says No — and so does the community.
Across Australia, we are already seeing the consequences of ignoring risk: in other states, whole towns are now being relocated or radically reshaped in response to repeated fire and flood disasters. Those are tragedies that are hard to reverse. Building a large scale resort in this location would be an entirely preventable disaster.
Our State is at the forefront nationally in classifying land and creating no go zones for high risk areas and land uses. For this site, the planning framework says No. The community says No. And we are asking decision makers to honour the intent of the system we all rely on to keep us safe.
Please read the key bushfire issues and email decision makers today to help stop this unsafe development.
During the formal consultation period we lodged a detailed submission, “Preserve and Protect Barossa – SBWTAP EIS Submission (PDF)”, which sets out in full why this location and scale of development should not be approved — including unacceptable risks to bushfire safety, landscape, water, traffic, community and the long‑term character of the Barossa.
You can also listen to a radio interview about the project here, which explores different perspectives and key issues raised by the proposal.
Although the public submission deadline has now passed, the final decision has not.
This site is designed to make it quick and easy to grasp the key bushfire issues and, if you wish, email decision‑makers directly to express your concerns about SBWTAP.
Please share this website with friends, family, colleagues and others who may be interested, so more people have the opportunity to understand the bushfire risks and contact decision‑makers if they choose.