16/10/2026
THESE BEAUTIFUL HISTORIC TREES ARE ABOUT TO BE DESTROYED BY THE MALINOUSKAS GOVERNMENT FOR A CAR PARK!
THIS MAGICAL OLIVE GROVE HAS BEEN IN OUR PARK LANDS FOR 154 YEARS!!! The MotoGP circuit has raised concerns about this historic olive grove, as the proposed route cuts through the grove in Victoria Park and the neighbouring grove in King Rodney Park / Ityamai-itpina
My question is if they are heritage listed why is the Department or Infrastructure and transport saying they are not heritage listed and this is being allowed to happen ???? https://dit.sa.gov.au/infrastructure/projects/circuit-redevelopment/environment-heritage/tree-removals *(see article: second to last heading under Olive Trees)*
The olive grove in Victoria Park / Pakapakanthi (Park 16) was planted in 1872 under City Gardener William Pengilly, they have been part of our park lands landscape for 154 years - untouched!
These drought resistant, hardy Olive trees can live for 1000 -2000+ YEARS!!!! 🫒🌳 The grove is an Adelaide gem in the north-western corner of Victoria Park and is a magical, beautiful, peaceful part of the Adelaide Park Lands to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, relax, have a picnic, you wouldn’t even know you were right in the middle of the Adelaide C*D.
By 1884, approximately 1,500 olive trees bordered Victoria Park. The groves were part of an effort to improve the condition of the Park Lands, which had suffered from grazing, vegetation clearance and degradation during the early decades of European settlement. Around only 300 of the olive trees remain today.
VICTORIA PARK’S OLIVE GROVE IS A LIVING PIECE OF ADELAIDE’S HISTORY!
These trees are more than just part of our history for generations. These historic trees have provided shade, shelter and food for wildlife for more than 150 years. 🐦🌿
Unfortunately, it doesn’t help when you have some conservationists so focused on labelling non-native olive trees as environmental pests that the Government is now using this argument to justify removing them for the proposed MotoGP racetrack.
Being non-native doesn’t mean a tree has no value! These mature trees provide habitat and a food source for urban wildlife, and their historic significance deserves consideration.
New trees cannot replace more than 150 years of growth overnight. Why destroy our living heritage when these trees could continue living and providing so much for so many.
As an evergreen tree they don’t lose their foliage so offer all year round refuge and shelter, and their fruit, the olives, provide a good nutritious food source for wildlife. These established trees contribute to the character of our Park Lands and the habitat available to the animals that call them home.
With the proposed MotoGP circuit threatening these trees within the Adelaide Park Lands, we must ask ourselves: What value do we place on our living heritage, our mature trees and the wildlife who survival depends enormously on them?
Once these established trees are destroyed, the birds and wildlife lose more food source and habitat we cannot simply replace more than 150 years of growth, shade and habitat overnight. 😫
