By ERWIN CHLANDA
The Brown family has been granted a change of zoning for their land at White Gums, in the south-western corner of the Alice Springs municipality, where they are planning a major residential and commercial subdivision.
Family member Steve Brown says after some 20 years of fighting for the approval, the family is over the moon: “It’s also a sign that the town is growing and that there is confidence in it.”
The plan is to create on 784 hectares “environmentally sustainable and integrated rural living, a community hub, senior’s lifestyle village with 80 dwellings for 162 residents in cottages in a valley with view of the ranges.
This approval is the first step, although a very big one,” says Mr Brown.
He says it clears the way for a development application to be made which will deal with the detailed design of the works.
The image shows the distance from the town centre. The number “1” marks the Ilparpa rural residential subdivision.
Rural living around Alice Springs is often disappointing for those who like the idea and try it out.
It’s hot, dusty and fire prone country out there, quite inhospitable most find.
As for a senior’s lifestyle village with 80 dwellings for 162 residents, that is neither a sensible nor practical proposition.
Seniors need ready access to services in town and don’t cope well with harsh conditions.
They will struggle to maintain the environment so it is not a fire hazard.
I would think that seniors moving out to the village will soon be scurrying back to the township, if they can afford to.
I’m not sure that the Brown family should be celebrating this zoning change.
I congratulate the Brown family for soldiering on and finally gaining the necessary zoning approval to see their dream for a new development in Alice Springs start to see the light of day.
I wish them good fortune and look forward to the next stage of development.
@ Jones “Huh”? Maybe the bush and Alice Springs itself is not the place for you.
Your comment suggest a strategic withdrawal to the coast may be appropriate. However while that may suit your personal desires I would point out to you that there are many Centralians who actually love living here.
Our project is aimed at them and has already attracted much enthusiastic interest.
It will not consist of a line of tents flapping in the breeze as Bush fires and pestilence unknown approaches as apparently you imagine it. It will however consist of beautifully appointed cabins in a village style with all encompassing club like community center, all services provided, all in a spectacular bush setting among the ranges.
Pastoralists are also counting on us achieving this and are lining up to buy.
@ Steve Brown.
It’s great to see someone with a vision for aged care facilities in an aging population. I wish you every success with this.
So does this mean that NT Government are going to upgrade the roads, power and water services to rural residents?
Does Steve Brown need a water license for this new development?
It’s rather sad that people purchased rural property to escape to the quite life and have horses and chickens and God forbid roosters, I wonder how long it will be before these people are told they can’t have them anymore.
From my understanding the department received a number of complaints in regards to this development as other rural owners didn’t want it! Just another favour for the boys!
Jones, you do not say where you live. One can only surmise you are actually an Alice Springs resident.
If you are you must be dreaming to think everyone wants to retire over on the fringe with a multitude of people.
Many of us live in the NT and in particular Alice Springs to get away from the rat race. Is that why you are here??
Anyway, Alice Springs has all of the facilities for senior citizen requirements and this proposal caters well to the aging rural population who have lived here through many a duststorm and drought conditions, so living out of the main township will be no hardship.
For you it will obviosly be difficult so I can only hope you are not one of the seniors with their name on the waiting list as we do not want individuals like you complaining every five minutes for living in effect all their life.
Anyway, how do you know what particular seniors want? Many seniors are very good at adapting to situations and it looks like you would be unable to cope outside the township! Have a nice day!
Steve, I reckon you are not so silly as to actually build a senior’s village.
I think that may well have been a ploy to get rezoning approval and you will soon be saying that the demand is not there and change the application.
If I’m wrong please commit to building a seniors village and rule out a major change to the proposal.
This is the first step an many more to come so anyone who is against this don’t worry.
Many people will complain, department of planning permission and so forth.
This could take years and lots of money. Just one question Steve, how are you going to access drinking water?
Wish you all the best. It may turn out to be a good idea but each to their own.
I was interested to hear Steve Brown say on ABC Radio this morning there was overwhelming support for his proposal and “hardly anyone” opposed it.
Yet of 16 submissions to the DCA, only 1 was in favour of the Brown plan. Hardly overwhelming support.
While I applaud the idea of a “senior’s lifestyle village” where is the business plan showing this is feasible? Who is going to operate this self funded retirement development?
And who is going to pay to get town water and services to these blocks?
This zoning change was signed off by the Minister. Looks like just another favour for the boys by this dodgy government.
Steve, Have you been outed here?
I noticed you did not respond to my previous challenge to deny that you would change your proposal to build a seniors village.
I am reluctantly staring to entertain the idea that the seniors village proposal was a ploy to get land re zoning, offering something needed by the community but later having to back away from it and actually build something else.
If so, that’s very canny of you, if somewhat duplicitous.
But this is just idle speculation on my part, I’m probably completely wrong and if so please post a response promising to not veer away from the seniors village, come what may.
Steve, I hope it comes to fruition, thanks for sticking to it for so long.
For those who don’t like rural living, fine, move back to the golf course or the coast, we choose to live rural for the exact reasons you find it “inhospitable”.
Melanie Alice Springs has a population of just under 29,000. 15 fifteen objections adds up to a whopping .05%!
To make up just 1% there would need to be 289 objections!
A “No” comment as offered by the 99.95% is considered as having no objection therefore by default a “Yes”.
We still live in a democracy, Melanie! There will always be someone opposed to every development proposal, if we took them into account nothing would ever happen and you, Melanie, would be out of a job, of a place to live and something to eat.
I’m sure that you will also be very pleased to know that most of the objections can and in some cases already have been, answered at least to some degree. Where we can, we are only too happy to make adjustments to suit. As for a business plan, Melanie it’s none of your business!
And you wouldn’t know what one was if it bit you on the backside anyway, in your world “The Gubberment” does everything doesn’t it? Oh and we are very pleased that the Minister signed off on this re-zoning – it wouldn’t be legitimate if he hadn’t!
I know it comes as a hell of a shock to some of you, but there really is such a thing as private enterprise. People who get off their proverbial take risk and try and achieve. I apologize to those resting on their backsides who may feel threatened by that, “don’t panic”, we are not asking for your assistance!
So take a break, put your feet up and watch, if we fail you’ll have something to laugh about, if we succeed Alice Springs gets the benefit!
As for the Conspiracy comment by Jones … The level of intelligence it took to come up with that one is just plain frightening. Just who do you suppose puts all the dollars, time [years of it] and energy into arguing the case for these projects?
And if we didn’t believe in their viability why would we bother? Why wouldn’t we just put up the case for something else if that’s what we thought would work?
Could you answer my question. Where are you going to access drinking water. You will more than likely need to access it from Stuart Highway pipe line or through Honeymoon Gap. This will cost a lot of money but good luck to you.
In response to “Interested”, there already is a major water main stretching 30km west along Larapinta Drive from Alice Springs to the middle of the Iwupataka Land Trust.
As Roe Creek, which flows through Honeymoon Gap, is only 15km west of town, there is only a comparatively short distance for a connection to be made to the existing water pipeline for the White Gums project.
This pipeline was constructed in 1997/98 when I was living at the “Gloria Lee Environmental Learning Centre” near Laura Creek, which is just under 30km west of town.
It was funded by ATSIC to the tune of about $5 or $6 million, and it has the capacity to service a population of 6000 residents.
As the number of residents on the Iwupataka Land Trust who access this water supply comes nowhere close to this number, there is more than ample supply to be potentially diverted to the White Gums development.
Sorry, Interested, I missed your question. The answer given by Alex is certainly part of the plan, there are a few options on the table and nothing finalized as of yet.
However one way or another the town water supply will be connected to the project and, yes, of course that will be very expensive. The various projects have to be large enough to cover those costs.
It’s both scary and obscene when I member of the Development Consent Authority thinks you assess applications as a popularity contest, and that people that abstain, even infants, are counted as supporters! And then to link that to democracy? Surely any community deserves better than such mindless tripe.
Agree Horrified.
The logic of “Alice Springs has a population of just under 29,000. 15 fifteen objections adds up to a whopping .05%” is disturbing.
It would seem that Alice Springs residents, including babies support all manner of things by not objecting.
Their silent “approval” is pitted against the few who are active objectors. The Government may need to ask for “approvers” and all the rest are taken to object.
Gee, horrified times two. You are not meant to take it so literally. I was simply trying to demonstrate to blind Freddy that in the great scheme of things 15 is a very low number.
Clearly for some at least I failed in that en devour.
Yes, you do have to enter a objection to be counted as an objection, further more you actually have to be brave enough to give your name and address which will then be on the public record.
So get some practice. Next time you want to make a comment be brave enough to use your real names.
Arguments are what should count, not just numbers.
But if we are to consider numbers then 15 objections may be a low number but just one supporting submission is vastly lower.
Indeed, the rezoning had just 6.7% support.
93.3% of submissions opposed it.
Well done, Steve Brown. It is great to see this project has overcome the first major hurdle.
To all those backward anti development crowd, suck it up! I for one will look forward to the day when Alice breaks its stagnant shackles and grows to a reasonable size.
Re Geoff, “grows to a reasonable size”. Only if our North American friends and the railway that splits a town in half say so. You might not have noticed that there’s a big world out there, we’re not all as insular as yourself.
Maybe his cafe vision will come now to fruition. Some suggested names in the office water cooler poll were “All Huff and No Puff” or “Brokeback Mountain” to capture the true essence of our forbidden love struck cowboys.
@ Harvey, are you on drugs? Your post makes as much sense as the Greens’ economic policy.
How and why do the moderators let this drivel slip?
Anyhow, well done Steve Brown, this project is another step forward for the town and nearly everyone that I have spoken to says the same.