Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Litchfield Mayor Doug Barden says it would cost more than $1 million to put footpaths in priority areas including Bees Creek Road which is a massive expense for the Council

Transcript

Litchfield Mayor Doug Barden says it would cost more than $1 million to put footpaths in priority areas including Bees Creek Road which is a massive expense for the Council · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: Yesterday we heard from a rural resident raising a young
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  Speaker 1: family in bees Creek who has raised concerns or has
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  Speaker 1: raised the issue of footpaths. Now. It comes after a
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  Speaker 1: young boy, as we know, was hit by a car
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  Speaker 1: after getting off a bus late last year, and two
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  Speaker 1: pedestrians were hit last month, injuring them and killing their
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  Speaker 1: two dogs. Now we've spoken to local residents, some who
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  Speaker 1: are calling for more footpaths along bees Creek Road, saying
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  Speaker 1: that it might improve the safety along there. They believe
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  Speaker 1: believe that more walkways would also benefit families wanting to
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  Speaker 1: get out and exercise. More signage was also one of
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  Speaker 1: the things suggested. Now joining me on the line is
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  Speaker 1: the Mayor of Litchfield, Doug Bardon. Good morning to you, Doug.
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  Speaker 2: Morning, Katie and listeners, Thanks so much.
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  Speaker 1: Sorry, thanks for coming on the show this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, yep, not a problem at all.
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  Speaker 1: Now, there has been a couple of terrible incidents on
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  Speaker 1: bees Creek Road in recent months, as I touched on
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  Speaker 1: just saying, a young boy hit by a car after
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  Speaker 1: getting off the school bus last year. Also two pedestrians
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  Speaker 1: hit last month injuring them and killing their two dogs.
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  Speaker 1: Doug following on from those incidents. Is the council looking
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  Speaker 1: at any additional safety measures on bees Creek Road.
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  Speaker 2: Not at the very moment, but just like it's very
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  Speaker 2: expensive doing these footpaths. Councils did corepare a very good
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  Speaker 2: comprehensive Litchfield Council feed path plan in May twenty twenty
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  Speaker 2: which does include bees Creek Road from the Stewart Highway
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  Speaker 2: to local and along Gordenia Road. And the total cost
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  Speaker 2: of the plan is over forty one million dollars for
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  Speaker 2: a footpaths and that was in twenty twenty. The bees
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  Speaker 2: Creek section we've been well over a million dollars.
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  Speaker 1: To do right, so by the sounds of things for
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  Speaker 1: the Litchfield Council, it is just like it's not actually
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  Speaker 1: a paintable financially.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yes, as much as we'd love to do it.
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  Speaker 2: We have Bee's Creek Road that needs footpaths. We have
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  Speaker 2: Whitewood Road extension needs footpaths on whole area needs footpaths.
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  Speaker 2: We even need footpaths on from going from calling Linger
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  Speaker 2: through to our Friend's Pass Recreation Reserved. You see the
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  Speaker 2: school kids quite often walking along the side of the
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  Speaker 2: Stuart Highway unprotected.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, So Doug, is it something that the Lichfield Council
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  Speaker 1: has to fund or is it something that the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Territory government or the federal government could actually put in
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  Speaker 1: some funding for.
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  Speaker 2: The section from the caller Inger Shops through the Fruits
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  Speaker 2: Pass Road would be would be MTG or federal government.
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  Speaker 2: If it was a long Bee's Creek Road, council would
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  Speaker 2: have to fund it, which it's richarly loved to do,
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  Speaker 2: but unfortunately some matter of resources. Yes, okay, certainly is
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  Speaker 2: certainly loving for the path between to Fred to Be's
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  Speaker 2: Creek Road, yep. And hardly hard for the for the
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  Speaker 2: footpath that has gone with Jerry Woods that has started
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  Speaker 2: from the police station at Barrama all the way through
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  Speaker 2: to Paul and India. So, Doug, from.
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  Speaker 1: Your perspective, by the sounds of it, obviously some of
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  Speaker 1: the areas where footpaths are needed would fall under council funding.
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  Speaker 1: Some of it it may be Northern Territory government. Some
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  Speaker 1: of it you might be able to get some federal funding.
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  Speaker 1: Is the council doing some work. I know that you'd
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  Speaker 1: noted that there was that report back in twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 1: I think you said, is the council doing some work
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  Speaker 1: on a way that you may be able to roll
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  Speaker 1: out some of these some of these.
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  Speaker 2: Footpaths, not really unless we can get some funding from
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  Speaker 2: the MTG, people of govenment. It's they've got to remember
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  Speaker 2: Cadie work is over seven hundred kilometers. We're still over
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  Speaker 2: seventy kilometers of dirt road. And then on top of
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  Speaker 2: that we even have complete road reserves that are in
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  Speaker 2: third world conditions which are just great big drops. And
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  Speaker 2: these ilegacies from the NTG and the Commonwealth Government before
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  Speaker 2: Listfield Reform and the previous Listal councils have really really
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  Speaker 2: done a great job to get six hundred and forty
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  Speaker 2: kilometers of road sealed in a short thirty five year history,
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  Speaker 2: which is around about twenty kilometers a year.
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  Speaker 1: I guess you know there'll be people listening this morning
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  Speaker 1: who may be thinking to themselves, so is there a
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  Speaker 1: way that it can be prioritized in terms of areas
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  Speaker 1: that are sort of close to schools or where you
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  Speaker 1: are seeing children, you know, sort of getting on and
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  Speaker 1: off buses and then walking. Is there is there some
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  Speaker 1: kind of way that it can be prioritized because some
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  Speaker 1: people will be listening this morning thinking what is it
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  Speaker 1: going to take, you know, somebody to lose their life.
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  Speaker 2: I think I think you've brought up a good point
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  Speaker 2: and we certainly going to be the Education Department to
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  Speaker 2: help us to improve our footpaths. Yeah, there's no doubts
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  Speaker 2: about that. We want to see We want to see
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  Speaker 2: as many footpaths sporting as possible. As well, as I
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  Speaker 2: said at the very beginning, it's a matter of resources
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  Speaker 2: and priority. I suppose one of our big priorities is
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  Speaker 2: to get our roads sort of for our roads are
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  Speaker 2: very very dangerous in many places. Thease cret Groad, for
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  Speaker 2: it looks after several businesses. It's not just our residents,
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  Speaker 2: it's the businesses the aviation industry along the bees Bees
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  Speaker 2: Creek Road at the nam A that's that's very very rough.
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  Speaker 2: If we could get help with that from the nt
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  Speaker 2: G or even the Middle Armed Road.
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  Speaker 1: So that's in terms that's in terms of the roads obviously,
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  Speaker 1: not you know, not looking at footpaths or signage at
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  Speaker 1: this point. That's in terms of the roads being better sealed.
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  Speaker 2: Well, well, that's right, and our residents out there and
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  Speaker 2: these on these dirt roads, I mean they're driving in
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  Speaker 2: third conditions, you know, they slip off the road and
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  Speaker 2: into the drain and you're going to pick them pull
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  Speaker 2: them out of the drain. So, I mean, we've got
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  Speaker 2: big problems out here to solve them.
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  Speaker 1: On, Doug, I reckon, there'll be people listening this morning thinking, well, Fee,
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  Speaker 1: why didn't they spend some of the money out on
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  Speaker 1: sealing the rural roads or on the footpaths rather than
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  Speaker 1: the giant signs that we've got in some of the
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  Speaker 1: other areas.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, well, you've got to remember, Katie, Litchfield Council is
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  Speaker 2: at the size of over twenty nine hundred square kilometers
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  Speaker 2: and that five times larger in area than Perist and
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  Speaker 2: down our Springs all put together, and literally Teams is
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  Speaker 2: the third highest in populations.
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  Speaker 1: Now tell me, Doug, what about with some you know,
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  Speaker 1: with some of those areas, particularly Bee's Creek Road, and
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  Speaker 1: after the terrible incident that we saw with the little
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  Speaker 1: boy and then with the couple being hit. You know,
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  Speaker 1: obviously by the sounds of it, the footpads are really
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  Speaker 1: very expensive. But what about do you think that there's
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  Speaker 1: additional signage or anything that is required.
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  Speaker 2: At this point. I'm sure we can look into that, Kate. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I'm not sure that footpaths would have I don't know
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  Speaker 2: enough about the actual accidents other than what was in
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  Speaker 2: the media, and I'm not sure that these accidents would
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  Speaker 2: have been our footpaths would have prevented them. But I
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  Speaker 2: don't know enough to comment to be quite only.
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  Speaker 1: No, that's fair enough. Now with all that, just on
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  Speaker 1: another topic, with all the monsoon or rain lately, there
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  Speaker 1: has been a few incidents of cars going through flooded crossings.
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  Speaker 1: I know that not all of them are obviously out
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  Speaker 1: in the rural area, but realizing, you know, like some
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  Speaker 1: people not realizing the height I suppose of the water,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and how much of a risk it actually posed.
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  Speaker 1: One of those incidents that we've seen was a school
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  Speaker 1: bus with three students on board. Is the council looking
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  Speaker 1: at any of those different areas and whether there does
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  Speaker 1: need to be you know, some further sort of meter
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  Speaker 1: gauges or is there sufficient signage there in some of
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  Speaker 1: those spots.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, I am that that bus third in the Valley region.
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  Speaker 2: We don't worry. We've we've had huge problems in the
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  Speaker 2: past with buses going down creeks in Lichfield in the
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  Speaker 2: late eighties or early nineties nineties, we nearly lost the
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  Speaker 2: whole school bus in the rural area and Rebad Road
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  Speaker 2: with a bus going down the creek. Luckily Suker who
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  Speaker 2: didn't have the contract as on from Sugar's Buses, he
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  Speaker 2: was out there pulling the kids out through the roof
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  Speaker 2: in the eighties. So I mean this it is a
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  Speaker 2: it is a huge problem these creeks. I saw something
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  Speaker 2: on Facebook a lady being down road on Darwin River there.
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  Speaker 2: I went out and had a look at that and
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  Speaker 2: and I mean that's that creek has taken many, many,
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  Speaker 2: many over the last thirty years. And also the Fly
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  Speaker 2: Fly Creek. Thankfully, I'd like to thank the federal government
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  Speaker 2: and empty teople helping us do the Kentish Road crossing
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  Speaker 2: which was famous for taking cars. Yeah, yeah, which was
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  Speaker 2: part of the Mango Road. And it is a huge
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  Speaker 2: god of I don't know. Once again, it's like it's
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  Speaker 2: like the bike paths. Where do you start?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a hard like that's a hard part, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: But then I guess you sort of start maybe at
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  Speaker 1: the areas that are the busiest.
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  Speaker 2: Well, well then you would have to start and die
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  Speaker 2: and then wouldn't even if you know me, for a
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  Speaker 2: rural area except that the problem.
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  Speaker 1: No, I know, but I mean out the like out
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  Speaker 1: in the rural area. Some of those areas that maybe
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  Speaker 1: do have you know that do have a few more
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  Speaker 1: cars going through. There must be some that are a
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  Speaker 1: little bit busier and and yeah, maybe maybe have a
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  Speaker 1: look at those to start with.
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  Speaker 2: Well, well well sealed roads is, in my opinion, and
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  Speaker 2: I think most counselor's opinion, is a very high priority. Yes, council,
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  Speaker 2: I mean footpaths need to be need to come on
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  Speaker 2: to the agenda. I think that we will be. I
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  Speaker 2: don't worry. It is a discussion within council. It is
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  Speaker 2: a discussion, it's not And the problem is we've been
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  Speaker 2: discussing the white Woodrone in the in the past, but
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  Speaker 2: at this stage we haven't committed anything other than repairing
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  Speaker 2: and repairing and lobbing NTT in federal government.
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  Speaker 1: Well keep us up to date, Doug. Look, I know,
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  Speaker 1: I know these things are incredibly expensive, and I know
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  Speaker 1: that even sometimes when you have these types of discussions,
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  Speaker 1: there are some people that obviously really want them to happen,
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  Speaker 1: or want foot paths, or they want signage there are
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  Speaker 1: others that say no, no, keep rural rural. So I
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  Speaker 1: know that it's quite a you know, it can be
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  Speaker 1: a divisive sort of debate as well. But keep us
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  Speaker 1: up to date as to how those discussions go and
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  Speaker 1: we'd be keen to, you know, to find out more
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  Speaker 1: if there is any movement.
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  Speaker 2: Yep, no, that's not a problem, Katie. And we're doing
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  Speaker 2: our best to to to get more to get more
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  Speaker 2: infrastructure out here is as best as we can and
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  Speaker 2: you know, as per as per for everybody in the
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  Speaker 2: in the whole world. Infrastructure resources is the problem. If
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  Speaker 2: we could get more resources thrown at us, we'd certainly
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  Speaker 2: be doing it.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, Doug Barton, the Litchfield Council mayor, really appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your time this morning. Thanks so much for coming on
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  Speaker 1: and having a chat with me.
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  Speaker 2: No problem, Thank you, Katie, thank you, Thank you for listeners.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you,