Legislation to protect the character of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale was reported in the media as being passed by the South Australian Parliament in 2012 and came into force in January 2013. The statutory change consisted of an amendment to an existing item of legislation, the "Development Act 1993", to create protection districts (also called "Character Preservation Districts") within the relevant local government areas to replace the interim protection districts put in place on 11 April 2012. The intention of the amendment is to ensure that the requirements for a protection district will always prevail over other development requirements where there is conflict.