MotoGP Adelaide: Chainsaws in the parks for the circuit, 377 trees to be felled, protests and police

Chainsaws have swung into action in the Adelaide Park Lands, and the police have arrived with them. The felling of trees to make way for the new MotoGP street circuit, set to host a race in South Australia from 12 to 14 November 2027, began at dawn on Friday. Work has started amid protests: some demonstrators climbed into the branches to try to stop the crews, chanting the slogan “stop the chop.”

Operations began at around 6 a.m. in the eastern part of the parklands. Around 20 officers were on site to restrain and remove people trying to block the workers. Four trees were felled in the first hour, clearing the way for work on water pipes connected to the project.

Friday’s trees are just the first. Changes to the existing street circuit, including temporary escape roads, will require 377 trees to be removed. Of these, 42 are classified as “significant,” while most are said to be unregulated invasive species, dead trees, or trees in poor condition. Another 88 trees will be transplanted to nearby areas. The overall project is worth 96 million Australian dollars.

Final approval came in early October from the state government, which, under the South Australian Motor Sport Act, has almost absolute power over the parklands around central Adelaide when it comes to major motorsport events. To soften the impact, the government had already pledged in August to plant ten new trees for every one felled—more than 3,000 in total. On Thursday, Premier Peter Malinauskas added that “several investments and initiatives are planned within the public parklands themselves,” including a 15-million-dollar package called the “Nature Positive Package”, which will help restore butterfly habitats and rehabilitate the Torrens River, among other things.

Opposition to the project is not new: several appeals had already been filed in recent weeks. The “Lungs of the City” campaign has also launched in recent days, with an open letter to Malinauskas calling for the tree removals to be halted. Signatories include Hollywood actor Dev Patel, singer Sia, and MasterChef Australia judges Matt Preston and Poh Ling Yeow. The letter has reportedly already gathered 6,500 signatures.

The letter directly challenges the promise to plant new trees: replacing mature trees with young saplings is no solution, because the canopy of a tree that has grown for centuries—and its ecological value—cannot be recreated within a lifetime. The campaigners also point to a petition with 80,000 signatures calling for the parklands to be protected, and argue that Adelaide can host major events without sacrificing its natural heritage.

The fight is not over with the first trees felled. The state government will have to face a lawsuit brought by the South East Residents Association, while the countdown to Adelaide’s first Grand Prix stands at exactly one year.

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Photo: ABCNet