Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with Darwin City Council Acting CEO Melissa Reiter

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Katie Woolf spoke with Darwin City Council Acting CEO Melissa Reiter · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: A few weeks ago, we caught up with the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Mayor of Darwin, combat Scalis, and spoke a little bit
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  Speaker 1: more about the proposal which would see the Lamaru barths
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  Speaker 1: down at the Esplanade redeveloped.
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  Speaker 2: Now joining me on the.
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  Speaker 1: Line to talk more about this is the acting CEO
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  Speaker 1: of the Darwin City Council, Melissa Ryder.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning, Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 2: Melissa.
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  Speaker 1: I understand that we were maybe hoping that the Lamarou
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  Speaker 1: Bard's redevelopment got some funding in the federal budget earlier
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  Speaker 1: in the week. That wasn't the case. But are you
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  Speaker 1: guys still planning to forge your head?
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  Speaker 3: We certainly are, Katie. Look all is not lost, and
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  Speaker 3: we're still in discussions with the federal government, so we
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  Speaker 3: weren't disappointed. We know that there's more to come, and
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  Speaker 3: we know that they're really keen and excited about this
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  Speaker 3: project like we are.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it looks quite amazing when you sort of, you know,
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  Speaker 1: even when you go down there to the Lamaru bath
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  Speaker 1: site now and there's you know, it's literally pretty sort
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  Speaker 1: of I don't know what the right word is. There's
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  Speaker 1: there's not a lot happening down there at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: But you can still see the potential.
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  Speaker 3: You can see the pretential and we've got some historic
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  Speaker 3: photos in our proposal which just look amazing. So it
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  Speaker 3: was obviously quite a popular spot back in the day
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  Speaker 3: and there's still a little bit of that infrastructure left
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  Speaker 3: in what looks like quite a desolate beach there. So no,
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  Speaker 3: it's super exciting for Darwan.
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  Speaker 1: So Melissa, what are the steps now from the council's
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  Speaker 1: perspective in terms of trying to get this redevelopment.
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  Speaker 2: You know, still moving forwards.
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  Speaker 3: It's continuing to work with the federal government, it's knocking
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  Speaker 3: on doors. We're obviously collaborating with the territory government as well.
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  Speaker 3: We'd like to see this integrate with across the waterfront
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  Speaker 3: so it provides that access and that amenity to the
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  Speaker 3: people of Darwin right around. So it is continuing to
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  Speaker 3: have those conversations and keep the excitement up and secure
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  Speaker 3: the fun and also, as the Lord Mayors previously said,
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  Speaker 3: if there's private potential for investment, we're all interested in
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  Speaker 3: hearing about that as well.
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  Speaker 2: How much do you anticipate it would cost?
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  Speaker 3: So at this stage we've for the three stages, we've
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  Speaker 3: estimated it at two hundred million. The stage one that
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  Speaker 3: we're talking to the federal government about is fifty million
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  Speaker 3: dollars and that would see the construction of the bath.
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  Speaker 3: The stage one would be the lamaru or we say bath,
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  Speaker 3: but it's quite a large lagoon, the Lamaroux Bath and
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  Speaker 3: beach area.
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  Speaker 1: How big are we talking when we when we I mean,
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  Speaker 1: like you said, we say baths, but it sounds as
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  Speaker 1: it's quite a large area.
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  Speaker 3: It's quite a large in the concept plan, it's actually
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  Speaker 3: called a splash pool. I think the question yesterday was
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  Speaker 3: to relate it back to the waterfront lagoon or something
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  Speaker 3: like Lake Alexander. I think it'd be comparable with the
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  Speaker 3: lagoon at the waterfront if you were to sort of
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  Speaker 3: pick a size.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so quite large and obviously that first you know,
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  Speaker 1: the first stage would be fifty million dollars. How close
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  Speaker 1: are we to this being shovel ready because I suppose
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  Speaker 1: we've spoken quite a bit about shovel ready projects in
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  Speaker 1: the last few days following the budget, And that's always
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  Speaker 1: the tough part, I suppose is that often with the
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  Speaker 1: federal government they want things to be ready to go
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  Speaker 1: straight away if that funding.
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  Speaker 2: Is rolled out.
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  Speaker 1: So how shovel ready is that.
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  Speaker 3: That's exactly right. So this was actually designed up and
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  Speaker 3: planned in two thousand and three four originally in the
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  Speaker 3: in the entire waterfront concept, So there are existing plans. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: legislation and regulatory requirements change over time, so it would
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  Speaker 3: need to go through that proper planning process, environmental studies
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  Speaker 3: and the like, but we would see, you know that
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  Speaker 3: there'd be a six month process around that, and obviously
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  Speaker 3: there's a community consultation and those sorts of things.
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  Speaker 1: Now, if you're not able to get that federal funding,
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  Speaker 1: would it be dead in the water.
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  Speaker 3: That's an interesting use of terms. But look, if we
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  Speaker 3: weren't able to get the federal funding, we would continue
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  Speaker 3: to pursue it. This is a project that sits within
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  Speaker 3: the Darwin City Center master Plan. We've noted over the
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  Speaker 3: last few weeks that this is clearly something the community wants.
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  Speaker 3: So people are as they're excited about this as we are.
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  Speaker 3: We've got some really good acknowledgment from Richard Fijo and
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  Speaker 3: the Larrakiir in terms of the cultural meaning for them,
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  Speaker 3: So we will not stop, I guess progressing this project.
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  Speaker 1: Well, it's look, I think it's a really interesting one.
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  Speaker 1: I think it would be absolutely beautiful to see that
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  Speaker 1: area redeveloped.
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  Speaker 2: But I guess the real lynchpin here is that funding.
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  Speaker 1: But i'd tell you what I think it's It's got
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  Speaker 1: real potential.
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  Speaker 3: So do we, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Oh, we're going to be interesting to see how
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  Speaker 1: it all rolls out. Melissa Ryder, acting see of the
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  Speaker 1: Darwin City Council. Always good to chat with you. Thanks
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  Speaker 1: for your time, Thanks for Katie, you are listening to
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  Speaker 1: Mix one oh four point nine