Jayne Stinson, Member for Badcoe speaks with Graeme Goodings on FIVEAA.
Date: 21.2.25
Time: 09:47am
(Goodings: This weekend excavators will dig up a suburbs factory site in an attempt to find the remains of the three missing Beaumont children … the Government owned land was sold to developers and there will be something built on it so this is the last opportunity … the eyes of the nation will be on the dig site over the weekend. Jayne Stinson is the Member for Badcoe she joins me now … this is happening in your electorate; you do have some concerns.) Yes well I think the people in my electorate are no different to anyone else in South Australia in terms of being incredibly interested but also incredibly emotional really about what happened to the Beaumont children and wanting to know where their final resting place is and what happened all those decades ago so in that way I suppose my community are certainly looking forward to this dig happening to be able to either find some new information and we are all hoping that that happens or put to bed a line of inquiry that has been live for many, many years. But certainly, people have been raising with me as well that this isn't the first dig at that area and they’re concerned about the traffic and rubbernecking, people coming along to check out what’s going on and more broadly there is great interest in the future of that site North Plympton is certainly a hub for future development and that’s something I get asked about a lot as well.
(Goodings: So what’s going to happen there once the dig is completed and work begins?) So I know in your intro you said it’s going to be sold off to developers that’s not a fait a compli we will see right at the moment the site is owned by Renewal SA which is the land development arm of the State Government but they have been involved in some very interesting developments particularly in my area like for example at the old Le Cornu site at the moment so no decisions have been made at the moment about what is ultimately going to happen to the land … we obviously want to see what happens with eth dig for Beaumont remains first but the site has been cleared to a commercial level so a lot of people in my area ask me questions about contamination of the soil obviously Castalloy was using a lot of heavy materials for many decades and there are concerns about contamination there but it has been cleaned up to an extent not to the extent you would put residential properties there are the moment but to the extent that you could build commercial property so certainly my community will get to have a say in what happens the future of that site. I hear from people all the time and I pass that onto the Government our community is one that would love to see more sporting facilities we do welcome more housing as well even at density, we are so close to the city and certainly it’s an ideal location but people shouldn’t think that there’s a foregone conclusion and a foregone plan for that site at this stage.
(Goodings: So what would you say to people obviously there is huge interest in this, the people I think it’s pretty ghoulish I would have no desire to go along and watch a dig of that nature but what would you say to people?) Well I’d ask people to just be respectful of that and respectful of the people who live in the area. Last time the last dig was around 2017-2018 and I was actually running for Parliament, not yet the MP … and there were quite a few people who did come down. It is a tricky spot with traffic and at peak hour locals do have difficulty sometimes getting in and out of their properties. There’s particular parking restrictions and turning restrictions in the immediate vicinity of this search so I’m sure police will be keeping an eye on it. So if you’re thinking of going down there … I don’t think you’re going to see much, it’s a very large site … and secondly, be respectful of the people who live in the area and are trying to get about their daily life. The search period that’s allowed is over a week – it doesn’t necessarily mean the searching will be happening from dawn to dusk every day of that week, it’s more likely to be a period of that week. So you might drive all the way there and it might not even be happening. So certainly, I’ve raised with the local council what traffic management plans might be in place and trying to make sure my constituents are looked after but we all definitely want a result. I haven’t come across anyone who’s against the dig happening. But I suppose just a bit of respect will go a long way and I’m hoping we won’t have any trouble.
(Goodings: I think people can just wait to watch the news at night and whatever particular channel … they’ll be able to see probably better than if they were on the site.) Indeed …
(Goodings: Good on you Jayne … lovely to chat with you …
