We are a community group of Upper Sturt residents who have taken it on ourselves to engage Peter Meline from Adelaide hills Development services. We are seeking to raise funds to pay their invoices. They are experts in planning & development advice surrounding the Adelaide hills. They have produced some great documents for council and have submitted.

As a community if we can raise the capital to pay this first invoice we can then engage Peter to speak on behalf of the residents to engage him to speak in front of the panel at the hearing.

ABOUT THE ISSUE

A new development proposal for a function venue at Manoah House, Upper Sturt poses a significant community risk. Your voice is crucial in fighting this dangerous proposal and we need your assistance.

It is unsafe and unreasonable to add a commercial function venue at Manoah House – with frequent events and unfamiliar visitors – into an already high‑risk bushfire landscape with limited road capacity.

Regular functions at Manoah House will bring ongoing noise from guests, contractors, vehicles and lighting well beyond event hours, in a valley that is currently very quiet at night and early morning.

Manoah Drive is a very narrow mixed dirt/bitumen road (ranging from 3.7–5.5 m wide), making it difficult or impossible for two vehicles to pass without one reversing to a wider spot, so extra event traffic will create congestion and safety risks.

The proposal at Manoah House would significantly undermine residents’ health, safety, peace and connection to nature, while adding environmental harms and pressure that could even force some neighbours to leave their homes.

KEY POINTS

Bushfire Risk

Manoah House is in a High-Risk Bushfire Area, yet the proposal would regularly bring extra visitors and cars into a narrow valley with one main access road.​​

Manoah Drive is too narrow for safe evacuation and fire-truck access if there are parked or queued cars. A single poorly parked car or traffic jam could block a CFS 34 or bulkwater carrier and trap residents trying to escape.

Manoah House does not provide a bulk‑water fill point for CFS vehicles, so it adds risk and delay for firefighting rather than supporting it.

The proposal relies on avoiding only “catastrophic” fire days, but there are many extreme or very high days that are still dangerous, especially with recent drought conditions in the Hills.

Most function guests at Manoah House will be unfamiliar with local fire risk and escape routes, increasing confusion and congestion if a fire starts or a warning is issued during an event.

Regular functions with alcohol, smoking and open flames (sparklers, cake candles, table candles) increase ignition risk late at night when many residents are asleep; even a small ember can start a fast‑moving fire in this dry, vegetated landscape.

Manoah House is only about 750 m from the Belair National Park boundary, so any fire starting there or at the venue could threaten multiple suburbs across both Adelaide Hills and Mitcham council areas.

Noise Disruption

Up to 60 patrons at functions, with set‑up and pack‑down extending activity well beyond the advertised event times, means regular noise from early morning through late evening. Preparation and clean‑up for events can start early and run late, not just during the function itself.

Night‑time set‑up and pack‑down at Manoah House would require bright temporary lighting over the marquee areas and car park, adding glare and disturbance to nearby homes as well as noise.

Noise will come from more than just guests: marquee crews, caterers, decorators, portable‑toilet trucks, florists, musicians and their equipment, each arriving and leaving in separate vehicles and working to their own schedules.

Manoah House has previously exceeded noise and time limits, with residents needing to call police and contact Council; this history undermines confidence that new limits will be respected without strong enforcement.

If on‑site parking at Manoah House overflows, cars will park along Manoah Drive, bringing door‑slamming, conversation and engine noise even closer to residents’ bedrooms and living areas.

Trucks delivering and pumping out multiple portable toilets, and accessing skip bins near Manoah Drive, will add heavy‑vehicle noise at least once a day during hire periods, which will be highly intrusive in a normally quiet valley.

Traffic Control

Manoah Drive is a very narrow, winding mixed dirt/bitumen road (roughly 3.7–5.5 m wide), so two vehicles often cannot pass without one reversing to a wider spot.

The road has poor sightlines and several blind corners, making it hard for drivers to see oncoming vehicles, walkers or cyclists until the last moment.

Manoah Drive is a main route for children walking to and from Upper Sturt Primary, as well as for families and dog walkers, so extra event traffic directly increases risk for vulnerable road users.​

There is a history of near‑collisions on Manoah Drive when non‑local drivers travel too fast for the narrow, winding conditions.

Adding regular functions at Manoah House would significantly increase unfamiliar drivers on this road, compounding existing safety problems.

Health + Wellbeing

Peace, quiet, natural surroundings, wildlife and a clean environment are central to why we live here; everyone has a basic need to feel safe and healthy in their own home.

The proposal causes ongoing stress about increased bushfire risk, especially at night when events are running and residents are trying to sleep.

Extra event traffic and trucks on Manoah Drive, which has no footpaths, increases danger and anxiety for children walking to and from Upper Sturt Primary and for residents walking with pets.

Continuous noise, traffic and risk will harm mental health and wellbeing. Our homes are places to rest, be with family and friends, and often to work from; some residents may feel forced to sell and relocate, as happened for some neighbours during the previous proposal.

The harm from this application is likely to reduce property values and create stress about having to relocate during a housing and rental crisis in the highly sought‑after Adelaide Hills.

Environmental impacts include noise and odour from skip bins and portable toilets near Manoah Drive, attraction of vermin and increased use of poisons, and extra traffic, all of which threaten local wildlife as well as residents’ amenity

As a community we shouldn't have to fight so hard to protect our place of residence.