00:02Pumping the brakes on a controversial call.
00:05Thai restaurant Walk the Duck was slated for compulsory acquisition as part of plans to build a new primary and
00:11preschool in Mount Barker.
00:13Listen to the community. If you're going to do anything in the community, you've got to ask.
00:17There's plenty of other sites that could go that wouldn't affect this business.
00:21The plans are now on ice.
00:22What I've done is paused that compulsory acquisition process so I personally can examine exactly the work that has been
00:30undertaken up to this point.
00:31What the actual duck? What does the pause mean?
00:35The government says 16 sites were considered, with some ruled out for reasons that might not be immediately obvious.
00:42For example, one site that some have advocated for that has a high voltage power line that goes right through
00:47underneath the surface of the land which people can't see.
00:50That means we can't build a school there.
00:51The opposition wants to see the full list of alternative sites.
00:55Tell us about those straight away. Thanks very much.
00:59The Mount Barker developers say they'd planned for a school to go on the other side of the road,
01:03ensuring space for bus stops and slip lanes, while the restaurant remained in place, with townhouses to be built on
01:10the vacant land around it.
01:11That site's owned by Lutheran Education Australia, who've been contacted by the ABC for comment.
01:17The owners of Walk the Dark say they'll post an update to their social media, but have welcomed the pause,
01:23while the community continues to rally around them.
01:26We desperately need the school here in Mount Barker, but we don't want to impact a local business.
01:31Until something's set and starting, we'll keep doing what we're doing.
01:33Telling the government to find a new site.
01:36We're going to look to this site.
01:37Let's add this right.
01:37Now let's add up to that site.
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