Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katherine Mayor Lis Clark says five laneways in Katherine East have been closed to stop people throwing rocks at houses and sussing out properties to break into

Transcript

Katherine Mayor Lis Clark says five laneways in Katherine East have been closed to stop people throwing rocks at houses and sussing out properties to break into · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, two councilor of counselors have resigned from the Catherine
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Town Council over the last week or so, both citing
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: personal reasons for stepping down. But I guess everybody wondering
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: exactly what the next steps are and joining me on
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the line is the.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Catherine mayor, Liz Clark. Good morning to you, Liz.
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: Oh, good morning, Katie.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: How are you really good? Great to have you on
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the show. Before we get into it, what's the weather
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: like in Catherine this morning, Liz? Bit wet here in Darwin.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Actually we had a sprinkle of range really early this morning,
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: but it's just beautiful at the moment.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Oh, lovely.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Always nice when we get that bit of rain, and
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: your hope it cools things down rather than makes it
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: more humored.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, Pierre, Liz.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: The situation two counselors resigning, what's happened with these two.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Well, they're both they're both leave in town, and they
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: both both saw their own personal reasons which I can't
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: go really go into. Yes, it was a surprise, and
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: I wish them both well in their new endeavors.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: And so Liz, I guess people have been messaging through
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: wondering whether it's to do with the crime and anti
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: social issues. I don't know whether you're able to, you know,
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: to shed any light in that way.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: All I can say is that, no, there are both
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: the personal reasons, and it just happens to be around
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: the time that we're having this crime. No, it was
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: for very different reasons.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: And when what's the process now in terms of the
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: by election for the two counselors?
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Okay, once the CEO has been notified, then the CEO
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: then goes to the Electoral Commission and then they will
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: determine when they can actually do the election, all.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Right, And so so I'm assuming that part of that's
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: happened already, has it in terms of the CEO being
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: notified and and letting the Electoral Commission know.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, we just have to wait until we hear
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: back from them as to when they can actually go
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: through the process.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, is it like, is it a tough situation for
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: you now, Liz as the mayor and for the rest
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: of the council because usually you might you know, you
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: might lose one councilor. But too is quite a big loss,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: isn't it.
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: It is a big loss. But when I look back
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: through that some of our history, it has happened before
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: where two councilors have been have resigned in that time.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: So actually has happened a couple of times. But it
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: is hard because it just we still have a quorum,
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: so they can't take any leave at the moment.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: But you've got to get back into it. Do you
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: reckon that you're going to find?
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Like, do you think that you're going to find that
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: quite a few people are keen to put their hands up?
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: Well at the last at the last by election, a
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: small ones that we had the year before last, Yes,
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: we had quite a few people put their hand up,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: So I'm hoping that we will get the same this time.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: Now, lis on to other things happening in Catherine.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: I understand that there were three cars destroyed by firing
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Catherine early this morning.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Do you know what's gone on there or have you
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: heard much?
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: I haven't heard about that one. Yeah, sorry, I oh,
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: that's all right. Coment on that one. I haven't heard
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: about that one at all.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: No, that's all right. We'll see what we can find out.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: I know that there have been some other initiatives that
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: the council though, has been trialing. I believe that there's
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: a few of the laneways closed at the moment.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: Yes, we have five lane ways that are being closed
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: for a trial for six months and they've been identified
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: by councils work with the police and the Northern Territory
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: government to choose the lane ways that they wanted to trial.
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: And basically the lane waves have been an issue ever
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: since I've been on council. Yeah, so wherever you know,
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: and I think are the same in Darwin and Palmerston.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: So the new subdivision in Katherine East has no lane
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: waste because they do have like we seem to have
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: an increase in the antisocial behavior in laneways. We have
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: people throwing rocks on people's roofs and for instance, and
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: then they jump into people's yards because they have an
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: easier access from the laneways. Yeah.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: Right, So there's obviously been a bit more concern in
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: recent times for that work to happen with the police
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: and to determine that they need to be closed.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: Yes, because they have because there's a close proximity to them.
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: You know, people can run down one of the laneways
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: and if the police are after them, they can't catch
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: them because they go through the lame waves.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: And so how are you sort of physically closing them
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: or what do you like, what do you do with
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: those laneways?
• 4:53
  Speaker 3: Okay, they will have a gate across them, a proper
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: a proper a high sort of gate, and the fencing
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: long each side will be the same height along that way,
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: and you can you know, you'll be able to see
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: through them, so people won't be able to hide behind them,
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: that they'll be on both sides of the lame way
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: at least.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: Is it a permanent thing or a trial? How long
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: will it go for?
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: The trial is for six months if it's successful, If
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: it works successfully, then it'll have to it'll come back
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: to counsel and will have to then apply to have
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: the lamewves closed permanently. And if they work well, we
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: have had other areas where there are laneways where people
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: have asked for the same thing to happen. So this
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: is a trial for six months to see if it
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: will help in the you know, in the process of
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: people with avy. So you know that that just not
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: not walking, just not walking down the lame wave is
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: what they were designed for originally.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so which locations have you sort of decided
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: to do in this trial?
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: Okay, we have, so there's five all together. Yeah, So
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: we've got Fordham Court to melucaed Rain, We've got Habspa's
• 6:13
  Speaker 3: Place to the Maluca Rain Franchipanny Court to melucad Rain.
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: As you can hear, you know, there's a wall within proximity.
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: A case should drive to Meluca Rain and sandal Wood
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: Crescent to Maluca Rain. So those are the Laane ways.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: There are the five Laane ways that we are trialing
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: at present.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: Well, hopefully it does have a positive impact and hopefully,
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: you know, it makes a bit of a difference when
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: you talk about some of that anti social behavior that's
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: been experienced and rocks thrown on roofs and that kind
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: of thing. Liz, before I let you go, last time
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: you and I were speaking, it was about a week
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: or so ago, and it was in relation to you know,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: what was being experienced in Alice Springs and those alcohol restrictions.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: Since then, we know that the Northern Territory government have
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: come out and they've announced that there is going to
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: be legislation introduced to Parliament next week with those blanket
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: alcohol bands again for you know, for town camps and communities.
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Do you think that this is a good thing for
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: your region as well, and as.
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: And even in that time, and whatever is done in
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: Alice Springs needs to be across the board. We are
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: already experiencing people, you know, people moving up from Alice
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: Springs and also to Darwin. So yeah, we need whatever
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: is done in Alice needs to be right across the
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: board because otherwise what will happen? People will just move
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: from Alice and move further north.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And Liza mentioned then that you know you've already
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: sort of experienced some of that movement. How have things
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: been going over the last week or so.
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: I think it's been a bit of as strain on
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: some of the service providers because you know, they've got
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: a lot more people than normal to deal with. So
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: it does make it very difficul call, particularly when service
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: providers have still got a shortage of staff often and
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: and so it's very Yes, I think it's very hard
• 8:08
  Speaker 3: on everyone. That it's a strain on everyone. So some
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: of these measures that we need to look at a
• 8:14
  Speaker 3: whole raft of measures, not just one thing to try.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: And you know, we've got to get to the root
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: causes of all these things.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and that like that's really interesting to hear that
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: you know already after sort of a week or so
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: of those restrictions that there's been, that there's already like
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: that there's a strain on services.
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: Well, I think it's more because we've got extra, you know,
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: so many extra people coming up here that normally would
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: not be here. Yeah.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Gee, that makes it to.
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: Restrictions in you know, because of the restrictions. Yeah.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: And I think that you're spot on.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: You know, it does need to we do need to
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: make sure that things are happening territory wide so that
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: you know, so that there needn't sort of an increase
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: for other locations such as yours. And there does as
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: though there is still a lot of work to happen
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: right across the Northern territory. Liz, it sounds like there's
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: going to be a massive cash injection for Central Australia.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Does more work need to be done or does it
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: need to be sort of other funding looked at for
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: places like the Big Rivers region.
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: Oh? Absolutely, And I was told that we would be
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: getting some funding, but I'm not sure what in what
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: areas or what it's going to look like at the moment.
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: Well, no doubt, we'll speak more about it at some
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: point in the near future. Liz Clark, the Katherine Mayor.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: It's always great to catch up with you. I really
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: appreciate your time.
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: Thank you so much for your time as well.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Katie, thank you