Abandoned Petrol Stations in South Australia: A Memoir

I recently moved back to my hometown of Adelaide after twenty years. What has struck me is the number of abandoned petrol stations I’ve seen spread out across the landscape, along with the fenced-off vacant land that has been there ever since I was a kid. Travelling by car with various family members over the past few months, and being part of the ongoing conversation about the rising price of petrol these days, all the while passing deserted servos, motivated me to look into them. Out of curiosity, I decided to map the abandoned petrol stations that currently litter South Australia because I’m a visual learner. And no one has done it yet. I approached this task with the intention to try and make connections. Between neglected places and ownership. Between environmental impact and accountability. Between fossil fuels and renewable energy. Between integrated land management and social well-being. Between my new-found home in Adelaide and me.

I started this project by contacting all 74 councils, the EPA and associated CHEM Team, Plan SA, Land Services SA, Safe Work SA, and State Records of South Australia. Strangely, my inquiry about the addresses of decommissioned petrol stations is not a common question people in government get asked, and lists or maps of this nature are not readily available. While there is a register of abandoned tank sites maintained by Safe Work SA, unfortunately, they are not able to disclose the list of abandoned tank sites to the public. However, some people within the EPA and a handful of friendly folk from various councils were helpful. I did manage to access online resources, such as the EPA’s Public Register Site Contamination Index. A search under Type: S83A Notification (site contamination of underground water) reveals hundreds of sites. Under Potentially Contaminating Activity, I could narrow my search to the sites listed as Service Stations. Then, I cross-referenced these identified sites with the SA Property and Planning Atlas under the Planning Reference layer Section 83A Notification, highlighting the affected areas. I could then view every site in Google Maps at different time periods. Anyone can see these places transform from commercial petrol stations into derelict land over time or become reused for other purposes, such as residential land.

The map represents a combined effort and is still an ongoing process, as I have also reached out to the interested public who want to share their local knowledge via Reddit r/adelaide and r/SouthAustralia. Together, we have come across sites that are not listed presently as contaminated land on the EPA Public Register or Plan SA maps. Perhaps this is due to the lack of resources and government spending on such investigations that can only occur once (re)development at specific sites begins. On the map, the coloured pins represent an existing abandoned site that includes an address, the most recent image, and which council it belongs to in each description. The red pins highlight abandoned and contaminated sites that I found through the EPA Public Register, the purple pins represent and describe sites provided by council members, and the blue pins are sites the public has provided via Reddit. The single green pin is one example displaying a land transformation through a series of images spanning thirteen years, from a petrol station to a series of townhouses. The whole mapping process is an engaging exercise.

I have discovered that these properties are not abandoned per se but are either permanently closed, vacant, or unused and owned by an individual, company or corporation like BP. According to the people I spoke to from the EPA, petrol stations have recently been added to the list of activities of environmental significance requiring authorisation in the form of a licence. And while petrol stations can pollute the groundwater at a site, it does not necessarily mean that the same industrial/commercial land cannot be (re)developed into residential land. Though, in some cases, precautions need to be taken. And the public should be made aware of them, like what happened at Tonsley (previously known as Clovelly Park), where the chemical trichloroethylene (TCE), an industrial solvent, spread in the groundwater and saw homes evacuated.

In other Australian states and territories, you can see the rise in petrol stations being resold as development sites to meet the high demand for land. New petrol stations should not continue to grow, not only for the obvious negative environmental impact reasons but also to achieve a global transition to greener and more sustainable energy. The Australian Climate Council points out that personal transport is the fastest-growing source of emissions in Australia, and private passenger cars account for 62% of Australia’s transport emissions. Economists back Australian government measures to speed the transition to electric cars to meet emission reduction targets. So, developing the infrastructure for electric vehicles at some of these abandoned petrol stations in South Australia might not be such a crazy idea. One doesn’t even have to look far for inspiration or to find out how servos can be transformed into electric vehicle charging stations. Since the 90s, Norway has been developing electric vehicle incentive programs, and their experience offers insight into electric vehicle benefits on a national to local scale. Clean energy and renewable projects are underway in South Australia. The aforementioned Tonsley case is now the Tonsley Innovation District hub for mining and energy innovation which supports the commercialisation of research and aims to be recognised as the global benchmark for reimagining and redeveloping traditional manufacturing facilities. Some petrol stations in Australia are beginning the electric vehicle transition, and mechanics and auto-electricians are experiencing a high demand to convert ordinary piston-engine cars into electric vehicles. We are also seeing EV charging stations pop up around the City of Adelaide.

The cost of electric vehicles needs to become more affordable, and the Australian Federal Government should be offering incentives to entice electric vehicle uptake. One might argue that our ongoing fossil fuel industry is an untenable situation in the long term. Service stations, as they stand now, will be left behind during the inevitable transition to electric vehicles in the next decade. Our local councils have the details of the property owners of the dilapidated eyesores in our communities, and the South Australian Government aims to be a national leader in electric vehicle uptake and smart charging by 2025, so more pressure from these institutions should be placed on the individual, company or corporation to develop their permanently closed, vacant, or unused sites for the zero-emission transition. Especially when most of the service station sites themselves are too poisonous for any other type of land use. Our soil is not renewable. Our water is a finite resource. Perhaps a proposal could be presented to property owners in the form of an economic opportunity to renovate and revitalize their sites for the well-being of the local community and future generations. Let’s continue to Keep South Australia Beautiful.

Derelict spaces are not a new phenomenon. There are studies exploring the impact of vacant land that can influence community well-being. For example, this study states that vacant land is a significant economic problem and affects the health and safety of residents, raises concerns about crime and safety, undermines the local economy (where property values decrease), and prevents new economic investments in the neighbourhood. More recently, this research concerning the pandemic and its impact on physical and mental health provides further evidence of health benefits associated with green space exposure, with more time spent in green spaces (in addition to having it nearby) resulting in lower depression scores. During my work in archaeological research in the Netherlands, I learned about the Integrated Landscape Management model. This planning strategy is a means to inspire long-term thinking that enables transitioning to more nature-positive and community-driven development pathways in landscapes that mitigate environmental trade-offs and increase sustainable business models. This integration contributes to an inspiring landscape narrative. Can urban greening using abandoned places promote citizens’ well-being? In this recent study, the short answer is yes.

After all these years, my journey back to Adelaide inevitably leads me directly to the land itself. This map of abandoned petrol stations spread out across South Australia represents a journey back to my family and a reunion with my history. In this light, the specific meaning of places lies not only in studying their history but also in their memory, and collectively our memories can fill in the gaps of time. By writing it all down, reaching out to people and starting discussions with local and online communities, recalling my youth spent at petrol stations, and mapping to remember forgotten places and landscapes that have moved on, this piece articulates something of an apology to Adelaide for leaving. But it is also a love letter to the land that raised me, where the abandoned petrol stations serve as a metaphor for what was lost, is lost, from collective memory and the experience of time passing.