The Auswine Forum

As predicted, the recently identified, the last potentially great piece of unused winemaking land in McLaren Vale has been condemmed to the bulldozers & jackhammers to build another yuppie ghetto: Green light for Seaford Heights expansion AdelaideNow May 25, 2011 11:16AM Political Reporter Sara...

Sorry about the cross-post, I only found this thread after I posted in another thread. Does anyone know anything about CHAMP, and is this a case of the devil you know (aka Constellation) over the devil you don't know (aka CHAMP)

Hardys wine company sold for $290m. According to http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/ ... 5975701946. Does anyone know anything about CHAMP private equity.

n4sir wrote:A perfect Christmas present for Peter Bell to refresh his memory?:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... SS:AU:1123

or perhaps http://www.mobipocket.com/en/eBooks/eBo ... okID=84158

I'm not sure what AdCiv, the mob laying the sewage lines have done, but the north-western corner of the site is looking decidedly boggy at the moment. I'm wondering whether they have somehow disrupted one or more of the natural springs that are near the creek. When they dug up the existing sewage ma...

Peter Bell in his Devine commissioned rewrite of history, made mention of the origins of the term Stony Hill. He says the name Stony Hill is a puzzle because the ground is not stony. I suppose it never occurred to him that over 161 years, that successive owners would have cleared the stones and rock...

It will be all over by tonight. Monday 28th September will go down as Destruction Day for the Stony Hill vineyard. If there are any vines left by 7pm tonight I will be very surprised m or this one for the full size image (sorry about the URL length) m Jess Whiting at the Southern Times has published...

A very interesting book published in 1906, and available online here, m, provides a further insite into the early years of John Reynell and his role in establishing the wine industry in this state. In her book, referenced above, May Vivienne writes on page 187; Reynella is named after the late Mr. J...

To James I say; in your excellent bog on John Reynell, you have provided a balanced and well presented piece, even though it appears you are part of the dreaded 'emotive campaign' that is threatening the company that commissioned Bell to write the report. From the first moment I read that he accused...

Even people with a 'PhD' after their name can get it wrong. Bell claims that The land was never entered into the South Australian Heritage Register and The stories that this was once entered in the South Australian Heritage Register but was subsequently removed are simply untrue but a news release f...

Apparently we have got it all wrong about John Reynell. Peter Bell's, Devine Homes commissioned report on the Stony Hill vineyard has finally seen the light of day in an Onkaparinga Council prepared response to a councillor's query. It is available here; m According to Bell, in respect to Stony Hill...

Devine Homes are calling their new development "Peppercorn Grove". See one of the signs here m Those who know the site, will note that the nearest peppercorn tree is on the property adjacent the Stony Hill vineyard (aka Peppercorn Grove) and there doesn't appear to be much room on the deve...

Too late for the current development unfortunately, but Councillor Schulze has proposed a notice of motion for the next meeting of the Onkaparinga Council on Tuesday, August 4 as follows; 1. That a report be presented to Council by end September 2009 which: • provides information on the backgr...

An article in the Thursday Australian's Business section shows that the Constellation juggernaut continues to carve a swathe through Australia's vineyards.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/bu ... 96,00.html

Once again, out of my depth, but read the Max Allen article whilst holidaying on Stradbroke Island, and this stood out to me- Devine Homes commissioned a report on the heritage value of the vineyard by historian Peter Bell, whose experience includes a decade at the State Heritage Branch in Adelaide...

Minister for Planning Paul Holloway in today's fluff piece "South Australian Government unveils vision for Adelaide" again had the nerve to say: " ...Virginia, McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley had been protected to save agricultural and wine regions from intrusion." m If this...

As always James, your writing is well researched and very much to the point. Together with your blog on the history of John Reynell, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading, you have clearly debunked Bell's ridiculous ramblings. You had better be careful, though, or he will label you with the NIMBY tag. ...

Next on the hit list (when Magill is sold for housing), Max Schubert was a heavy smoking palate free zone who was lucky to pick the difference between a sauv blanc and a shiraz on a good day. All the rest was marketing hype created by the company to build the image for their own reasons. Hypothetic...

Apparently I am suffering from 'nimbyism' according to Peter Bell who is quoted in the Australian. m And for all of the other opponents around the place, you too are suffering nimbyism. Bell's as yet unpublished Devine sponsored report, unequivocally concludes that the vineyard "is of no herita...

I'm way out of my league and depth on this thread but, via Phoenix, I had Midnight Oil's "Burnie" in mind (fantastic acoustic version hidden track on first live Oils cd)- m "This is my home This is my sea Don't paint it with the future of factories This is my life This is my right I'...

Another article in the local messenger. m The lady on the front page, Margarette Powell is a wonderful person, who has lived in the area much longer than I have. She was absolutely devastated by the decision, as were a number of other long term residents of the area. To get people of Margarette's ag...

PaulG wrote:Very sad, but not overly surprising. Has someone informed the relevant ministers of this decision?

I'm on it as we speak !!

The picture on the left will look very different this time next year. I need to go and sit near the vineyard before they remove it... Maybe jump the fence and prune some vines... UMMM. Sad. Reflecting on the outcome of the meeting tonight James, and re-reading your words in your blog, reminded me o...

I found the article very interesting. Unfortunately, given the decision by the DAP this evening, Stony Hill is now destined to become a cheap and nasty Devine housing development. I suspect that by Christmas, the first commercial vineyard in this state will be nothing more than another piece of high...

http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/death-knell-for-historic-reynella-vineyard/1544781.aspx for those who can't be bothered searching. To be completely honest, I don't think the council have much choice but to approve the redevelopment. They aren't a heritage body. They ther...

The Independent Weekly has now published an article. I would post the link, but I haven't been a member here long enough. If you do a Google search on "independent weekly stony hill vineyard" (with the quotes), you should find it. Thursday is decision day. Hopefully sanity will prevail, al...

I'm not sure if you had heard yet, but the Onkaparinga Council DAP meeting agenda for the meeting on the 25th June is available on the Onkaparinga web site The developers response to the three issues raisedby the DAP last month were; * Confirmation of full traffic movement from Reynell Road, ie left...

Well, it's a small positive in the scheme of things, but I've received confirmation that John Darley will be supporting the Democrats in their pursuit of this issue, although to save duplication of effort he will be more inclined to support them, rather than start a new himself. Little things, but ...

Probably the only way to stop this particular development from happening is to petition the council. However I think the anger directed at Consellation is necessary and should be maintained. How else will they know that the public is not happy with their rape and pillage attitude and corporate gree...

Following an email sent to the CEO of Onkaparinga Council, I received a letter in response. The following quote appears; "Council's heritage advisor has visited the site and is of the opinion development of the site will not impact negatively on the state heritage items situated on the southern...