Adelaide Festival Centre says State Government will kill Riverbank through "the dead hand of bureacracy" THE State Government's failure to commence an upgrade of the Adelaide Festival Centre precinct is "shameful" and its planned riverbank authority will hinder progress along the Torrens, the centre's CEO Douglas Gautier says. Mr Gautier has told a forum today (Friday, November 15) on Adelaide's vibrancy that arts and cultural institutions needed a greater say in planning and development issues. The fact the Festival Centre had missed out on the government's "vibrant city" agenda was both "shameful"and "economically shortsighted" when an Ernst and Young study showed the centre contributed $120 million to the economy in 2012, Mr Gautier said. "It needs to be rectified and soon," he said. NEWSFORCE: Adelaide Festival Theatre at dusk. Picture by reader Shane Strudwick MORE: Take a fly over the new precinct Should arts and entertainment should be more of a focus of the Riverbank Precinct? What do you want to see built in the precinct? MORE: New development guidelines for Riverbank The new River Torrens bridge to from the riverbank precinct to the Adelaide Oval under construction. The centre has a $400 million masterplan for the precinct focused on arts, entertainment and dining, while the government has rezoned the riverbank west of King William St to allow for large office and hotel developments behind Parliament House and an expanded casino. In September, Premier Jay Weatherill announced a new authority would co-ordinate riverbank developments, leverage private investment and promote the precinct to tourists. MORE: New masterplan for Riverbank Artists impression of new River Torrens riverbank precinct. Both Mr Gautier and Adelaide City Council chief executive Peter Smith told the forum, run by the Committee For Economic Development of Australia, that the authority risked killing the area's potential through "the dead hand of bureacracy." "I do worry about the Riverbank Precinct Authority being another layer of governance," Mr Smith said. He said all tiers of government needed to become facilitators rather than dictators, pointing to the success of Splash Adelaide, which has 85 events on its latest community driven program run on a meagre $300,000 budget. MORE: Adelaide Airport weighs in on Riverbank plan Mr Smith plugged the council's "place making" agenda, which will divide the CBD and North Adelaide into 12 districts and encourage locals to drive their creative transformation into areas offering different experiences. Former Integrated Design Commissioner Tim Horton told the forum there should be a minister and department for Creative Economy, in recognition of the economic impact and potential of arts and creative industries. For the Riverbank Precinct Authority to be effective it must be both "collaborative and overarching," he said. Advertiser.com.au is seeking comment from the State Government.