Issue 29

The Town Council's discussion of street name proposals for the new Mt Johns subdivision was a revealing little snapshot of inter-cultural dynamics in Alice Springs.

The developers, Lhere Artepe Enterprises, a business related to the native title holders' Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation, proposed two Arrernte names, Irrampenye Street and Werlatye Court, both of them after traditional owners born in the mid-19th century near where the Old Telegraph Station came to be built.

Deputy Mayor Brendan Heenan objected in particular to Irrampenye as very difficult to pronounce and spell (thinking of having to spell it when calling police or for a taxi). There was "no way" he could support it. He suggested further that it is too close to another Arrernte name in the Stirling Heights subdivision (which also involved the native title holders). KIERAN FINNANE reports.

The intersection of Undoolya Road and Wills Terrace, looking towards the causeway across Todd River. Photo by Alex Nelson.

Is there really a case for a roundabout at the Undoolya Road – Sturt Terrace intersection? And how much support is there for it from the residents of Eastside?

Mayor Damien Ryan is having his doubts.

Papers presented to councillors at last night's meeting revealed that only four replies had been received in response to council's 1500 invitations to comment.

Three of the four opposed this expenditure of $300,000 of taxpayers' money.

Mayor Ryan's thought that, together with views he had heard by callers to local radio, suggested that the people of Eastside did not seem to want this roundabout.

Council's Director of Technical Services, Greg Buxton, countered that non-response indicated "acceptance". KIERAN FINNANE reports. 

Shift dump & sewage plant from iconic Gap, says Cr Brown 

The Town Council's plans for a $5m upgrade of the tip, turning it into a "regional" landfill servicing the southern half of the Territory, is showing troubling signs of putting the cart before the horse.

Funds include grants from the Federal Government ($3.5m) and the NT Government ($775,000).

All centers which would be carting rubbish to Alice Springs would be in one of the two shires south of Tennant Creek.
MacDonnell Shire CEO Diane Hood says while there are talks about a regional waste management action plan "this has not yet been discussed in any detail" and "no budget has been assigned for this purpose as it will form part of future discussions".
And Roydon Robertson, CEO of the Central Desert Shire, said when asked for a comment: “I don’t know anything about this story. I doubt its accuracy.”
Prominent councillor Steve Brown says the dump and the adjacent sewage treatment plant, run by the NT Government's Power & Water, should be moved from their present location where they are a smelling eyesore in the iconic Gap, the entrance to the tourist Mecca Alice Springs wants to be. ERWIN CHLANDA reports. [This report brings together all previous reports and updates on this subject.]

Click FULL STORY for UPDATES on July 19 and 23.

IMAGES: Sketch of the entrance of the proposed upgraded landfill. • The dump (centre of the photo) is a blight on the beautiful Ilparpa Valley, says Cr Steve Brown.

Updated July 18, 2012

In the wake of the Victorian Auditor-General’s report into that state’s drinking culture and its range of damning observations that point to its $4.3b p.a. and growing alcohol-abuse problem, there have been a number of other reports this past week, echoing concern about Australia’s dependence on alcohol. For example, in Western Australia, evidence given to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, revealed that one in five students at a Kimberley high school (20%) is believed to suffer from Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, where the mother’s alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes brain damage and other birth defects, similar to autism. Teachers are having to deal with this in the classroom. COMMENT by RUSSELL GUY. Photo: A traffic jam at the "Thirsty Camel" last Sunday afternoon in Alice Springs.

Labor's land management doesn't give a hoot about The People; is south of The Gap reserved for trash; on'ya, cops, for cracking down on alleged dope dealers; and a farewell to Pam Lofts. What a Week by Erwin Chlanda.

The Territory elections are six weeks away with the price of real estate and housing, although falling, still one of the main issues.

Yet the development of the new suburb of Kilgariff, up to 1200 blocks south of The Gap, except for the head works, is still little more than a sign by the side of the Stuart Highway.

Alice Springs detectives have released a comfit image of the man they would like to speak with following an alleged sexual assault in Alice Springs.
Detective Senior Sergeant Travis Wurst said a 21 year-old woman was attacked at about 11.30pm on Friday, July 6 near the Bloomfield drain way.

Bess Price on the campaign trail, talking with Laramba resident Ronnie McNamara and Napperby pastoralist Janet Chisholm.

Is a swing on in the vast Northern Territory electorate of Stuart? It's been held by Labor since 1983. Can well-regarded and outspoken senior Warlpiri woman Bess Nungarrayi Price wrest it from Labor for the Country Liberals? One voter doesn't make up the 15% needed but Ronnie McNamara in Laramba is eloquent: "We tried Karl Hampton and before him Peter Toyne. Nothing happened. We need someone who can help us ... We might vote for that Country party." KIERAN FINNANE accompanies Bess Price on the campaign trail.