McLaren Vale - south of Adelaide:

changing identities of a peri-urban,

premier wine region

Prof. Andrew Millington, Robert Keane

School of the Environment, Flinders

University, Adelaide

Prof. Britt Dale

Department of Geography, Norwegian

University of Science and Technology,

Trondheim

Beyond the Edge Conference, Melbourne, Oct 2nd 2013

Setting the scene

South of Adelaide: “double edge effect”

City of Onkaparinga: southernmost council in the Adelaide

Metro Area – sharp suburban and rural divide

McLaren Vale: southernmost part of City of Onkaparinga –

the rural part (former Willunga Rural District Council)

South of McLaren Vale: Fleurieu Peninsula (rural)

Premier wine region

Iconic coastline

Highly vulnerable to suburban expansion

The approach

Place and community very strongly identified

Sense of place, cognitive mapping and perceptions of change:

underline the importance of the concept of identity

McLaren Vale variously defined [cognitive mapping]

Recent land-use actions adding layers onto the construction of

sense of place [discourse analysis]

Importance of identity concepts:

Do differences provide opportunities to be exploited and promote

urban growth?

Do they they have a role in countering urbanisation

McLaren Vale is…

a township

different areas

old wine growing district centered on McLaren Vale township

a more extensive area synonymous with Willunga Basin

a Wine Australia GI: bigger than the McLaren Vale area

definitions

a legally defined Protection District: bigger than either of the

McLaren Vale area definitions, different to Wine Australia GI

Conflicting and contested geographical concepts in play

Changing landscapes and identities

Landscape elements and events create the concept of “McLaren

Vale/Willunga Basin” as a place

“working rural landscape”

common descriptor

objective of character preservation legislation

Working landscapes change (will continue to change as new local

and international markets emerge in response to local sustainability

and resilience concerns, and export drivers)

suburban (housing) encroachment

cropping: cereals, almonds, sheep and hay, vines, olives

landscape aesthetics

Changing landscapes

Crop Location Change

Cereals adjacent to coast mostly lost to housing

Almonds around Willunga

township

mostly lost to vines

Sheep-Hay south and east mostly lost to vines

Vines around McLaren

Vale township

expanded: greatest proportion under

vines of all SA wine regions

Olives scattered expanded

Landscape aesthetics important in constructing identity:

land use actions have changed seasonal colour palettes

Re-invention as a premier food and wine producer and destination:

Role of Willunga Farmers Market pivotal.

WFM was most quoted characteristic event in interviews

Remarks moving forward…

McLaren Vale is a “working rural landscape” at the fringe

Identity build around landscape aesthetics and cultural aesthetic:

echoes of past working rural landscapes

Change in land-use influenced colour palettes, Willunga Almond

Blossom Festival

New actors and resilience concerns re-inventing as a premier food

and wine producer and destination through new markets

Local (amenity value)

Rural-urban (Adelaide) connection (production and amenity)

National/International (production)

Capturing the Fleurieu Peninsula “rural” to the south

“Triple edge effect”?

Needs a regional approach?

source: almondblossomfestival.com.au

Acknowledgements

Southern Knowledge

Transfer Partnership

Willunga Environment

Centre

Friends of Willunga Basin

City of Onkaparinga

Cognitive mapping [interviews and a focus group]

Is there an agreed upon geographical space?

McLaren Vale is…

Are there confusing geographical concepts

Discourse analysis [In-depth, open-ended key informant

interviews]

Changing landscapes and identities

Boundary definitions: Willunga Basin