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Katie Woolf spoke with Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, there has been a bit further discussion or certainly
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: more media reporting this week about whether Mitchell Street should
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: be made pedestrian friendly and closed off to traffic in
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the night hours, following on from that situation that we
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: saw on Sunday morning. Now joining us on the line
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: is the Lord Mayor of Darwin conbat Scarlets.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning conn Good morning Katie con Do you think.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: That we need to be closing Mitchell Straight off to
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: vehicles at night time a few days a week following
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: on from that incident on the weekend.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Well, it's been flooded before with us in the Council
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: about converting into pedestrian road, but I think we shouldn't
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: do that to an mehari, We should have discussions, will
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: probably proprietors there and the government find out the best solution.
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: My prefer option is if we can close it down
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: at night, let's say six o'clock, by putting eumatic ballarts
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: they come out of the road. I think people will
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: feel more free and more relaxed working there, not cart
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: driving around, and give the opportunity then for the properties
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: and the premises struck, put tables out and converted to
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: a really open dining area.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: But would you do that before consulting with those businesses
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: or would you make sure you go through that proper
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: consultation process first?
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Oh no, no, Katie. Everybody has to be part of it.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: We can't just step in and do it ourselves. We
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: have to be people have to want to do it.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: What's the point of us going in and doing it
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: then everybody objecting to it. The properties have invested into
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: it and they have to be part of the solution.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: So, Colin, if you did it, and like you said,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: obviously they'd have to be a full consultation process. But
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: if you did it, would you have you know, would
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: you have like tables and chairs sort of about further?
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Would you try to make it a real El Fresco
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  Speaker 1: dining precinct.
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: What's the point of actually closing the road in the
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: afternoon if you don't convert it to El Fresco for
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: those hours. You don't want an empty pitchment there. You
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: want to be activated. And I think, and I've seen
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: it in many other places here in Australia and in Europe,
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: that this happened regularly. Big streets in Europe they close
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: them down at night after five or love of six
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: o'clock after the main shops close and be converted to
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: a place where people we can have a drink or
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: can have dinner, and I think a lot of premises
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: there they will love the opportunity to actually go out
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: those especially in the crisis.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Is it something that the Council is seriously considering, though, Corn,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: or is it just something that if businesses and if
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: people came forward and really pushed for this, then you
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: might change it.
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  Speaker 3: Well, Katie, the other thing you have to remember is
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: if more families come down and have a dinner at Fresco,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: less idiots will distribute things like they are to the
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  Speaker 3: guy in the Black Cole world or we'll drive to
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: the other day. And if you do only have cars
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: in the hand or idiots will avoid the instance you
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: had before, because sometimes people drink too much and they
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: will use their cars as weapons. And visus are no,
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  Speaker 3: no and should never happen.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Now, corn, I believe that council met last night and
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I thought that on the table there was going to
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: be a discussion about an increased number of cat traps.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Was that the case.
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: We have the where we've got two new suburbs now
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: that actually they are going to be developed very close
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: or next to a natural reserve in the Casurina bitch,
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  Speaker 3: we also know very well they actually we've got a
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: lot of wildlife there and the last thing we need
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  Speaker 3: is actually people having cats roaming free at night estimating
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: these wildlife. We know very well a cat by instacts
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: are hundles and they will go out of the way
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  Speaker 3: to hunt things even if they don't want to eat it.
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  Speaker 3: So what we decide to do actually change our policy
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  Speaker 3: on cats and then our bilows. So cats would not
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: be allowed to be free outside the house and certainly
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: would not be allowed to be free in the garden
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: as well, because they can always escape the small animals,
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: they can find a way to escape and their masters escape.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: So what are you going to do? Set up more traps?
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: So how are you going to do this?
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  Speaker 3: Well, we who get more traps? And when we trap
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: a cat, if the cat is micro chip, that the
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: owner who can be fined it is not microchip. Then
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: could bye cat?
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  Speaker 2: Well tell you what called? Are you a cat lover?
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: I am? I love you. At the same time.
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  Speaker 2: The fair ones, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: My wild eyes and I love the birds in my
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  Speaker 3: garden and we have to balance both I don't want
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: an empty garden. I want and alive garden. But at
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: the same time, I always kept my cat inside with
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: a belt on here for your next didn't like that one,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: but the birds likely because they could hear her coming.
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, fair enough, Con, Just finally I know that are
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: my Darwin vouchers. That that next round I believe it
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: kicks off today.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Well it did one minutes past midnight. If you were
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: a member, probably you found on your phone already the vouchers.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: I did this morning in my phone, and I'm surprised
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: you are there, not out they're shopping, spreading the vouch I.
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  Speaker 1: Wish I was that spreading money.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: We actually put four hundred thousand dollars two hundred thousand
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  Speaker 3: dollars ourselves, two hundred thousand dollars, not the territory government.
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  Speaker 3: The first round starts today and the second round will
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  Speaker 3: start with the twenty oth Jenuy. So go out there,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: use your vouchers, spend them in the local businesses, help
• 5:05
  Speaker 3: yourself and help our local business survive this difficult time.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Now, Con, did anything else happen last night in that
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: council meeting that we should be aware.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Of the Minister popped in and say hello, and we
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: had discussion with us and we had Christmas dinner all
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: together and we had a great time. It was the
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: last meeting of the year and it's been a year
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: from hell. With COVID nineteen, it changed the way we live.
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: We meet, we drink, we socialize, we travel well or
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: we don't drive a travel and hopefully next year will
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: be much much better.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: Well, convat scarlets, the Lord Mayor of Darwin, good to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: catch up with you.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: We'll leave it there and we'll talk to you again
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: next week.
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: Yes, we'll do.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: Thank you. Thanks Con.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: And it is just a couple of minutes away from
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: ten o'clock and Ronnie, my producer, is telling me that
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: there's already been three thousand, six hundred and ninety five
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: dollars used of the my Darwin vouchers. That is of
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the two hundred thousand dollars which has been set aside.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: So if you've got well, if you've got that app
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: and you want to go out and do some shopping,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: now's the time.