Aligning residents and business interests priority for Central Ward candidate
28-year-old Declan Price-Brooks is throwing his hat in the ring for the upcoming Central Ward council by-election, focusing on reframing council issues and stopping “resident versus business” culture wars.
InDaily sat down with Declan Price-Brooks at Hutt Street’s Sofia, one of the newer hospitality joints located on the business strip that sparked an ongoing debate about the Adelaide City Council versus car parking.
First reported by InDaily in August, a main street upgrade plan for Hutt Street would reduce speeds to 30 km/h and slash more than 70 car parks to allow for cycle lanes and outdoor dining.
“I walked along Hutt Street to come here to see you today, the street is in need of investments and an upgrade,” Price-Brooks said.
“The way to approach that is to have those most invested in the city involved in the decision.
“They want a lively, walkable street for hospitality, and they want somewhere for their customers to park, and those two things can both be achieved.
“No one is better off when we have council wasting years on these projects fighting about the exact number of car parks or the angle they’re at. If we just calm down, sit together, take a reasonable, evidence-based approach, I’m confident we can find the right balance.”
Though a fan of Sofia, if Price-Brooks is successful, he might spend more time at the restaurant’s sibling, Part-Time Lover, right by Town Hall. Photo: Helen Karakulak
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Price-Brooks drinks an oat magic in the light-filled café where he’s a regular and recommends that on my next visit, I try the Cypriot sausage sizzle, which he describes as “a Bunnings sausage, but like high Australiana cuisine with a bit of Greek, that is amazing”.
The 28-year-old has lived in the city for most of his life, and last year bought his first home with his partner off of Hurtle Square.
“I grew up learning to read at the North Adelaide library, going to community events in the city,” he said.
“As I’ve become an adult, I’ve noticed the level of dysfunction and distraction in the council and have been really disappointed to see that.”
He’s running for the Central Ward by-election, which was triggered by a court judgement that left the Adelaide City Council with four seats to fill, because he wants to change the narrative that pits businesses against residents.
“A resident in the CBD is three times more likely to work in hospitality or a cafe than someone living somewhere else,” Price-Brooks said.
“Which is one of the things that I feel sad about, how the council conduct themselves, pitting business against residents when the residents probably work for those businesses, so those two interests are aligned.
“I think our business community is being left out of a lot of the decisions, decisions that should be practical day to day, like street redevelopment, have devolved into culture wars.”
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One of the key ways Price-Brooks wants to see businesses more involved is to introduce main street levies, similar to the current Rundle Mall model, which he says is a “glowing example”.
The levies are a portion of traders’ council rates that go towards specifically maintaining their area. Earlier this year, Adelaide City Council proposed applying a Hindley Street levy, but this has not been adopted as part of its 2025-26 council budget.
“That’s exactly what I want to see. I want to see one for Hutt Street as well, for Gouger Street, so that businesses could be masters of their own destiny,” Price-Brooks said.
He says outdoor dining – another ongoing theme of this year’s council budget – is a big part of seeing businesses flourish and getting young people to the city.
“I love that our city is lived out on the street, and I think there’s got to be a way to have a sustainable budget that doesn’t come at the expense of that,” he said.
“Why would we want to disincentivise business questions, having more covers, more tables, and having more people out on the street, that then makes the street more beautiful, more vibrant, encouraging more people to come and spend more money, raising the value of the land and raising more rates.”
Price-Brooks first experiences with politics came from campaigning against sexual assault, harassment and rape at university, which is when he joined the Labor party.
“I’m certainly not running as the Labor candidate or on behalf of the Labor Party, the Labor Party hasn’t endorsed me, and I’ve not asked them to,” Price-Brooks said.
A 2024 report shows the Adelaide hospitality industry is rife with sexual harassment, with half of complaints made by staff to management not acted upon.
Though Price-Brooks said he was involved in student politics “as little as I possibly could have been”, keeping punters safe has been a key passion of his since his university days.
“Something I’m really worried about is a global trend we’ve seen of younger folks spending less time out and about at night, and if we can make younger folks feel safe, that supports our businesses there as well,” he said.
“More than half of city residents are under 35, so if they’re not feeling safe and comfortable going out, then our night economy will suffer.”
Declan studied science and genetics at university, which he said he uses a lot in his day-to-day work at the Australian Services Union.
“Less the content and more the style of thinking, learning to approach problems sort of systematically with evidence, with reason, which is actually something I think our city council could do with a little bit more of.”
Polling day for the Adelaide City Council Central Ward by-election is August 25, with voting materials being mailed out to city residents between July 29 and August 4.
