By Zoe Moffatt
The City of Darwin has asked for $150 million from the Federal Government to develop Lameroo baths, which could start “within months” if the funding is given, Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said.
Mr Vatskalis told Mix104.9 on Tuesday that the plan is a way “we can make Darwin completely different… better than the Gold Coast.”
The Lameroo baths proposal was submitted in response to the Prime Minister’s appeal for “some really big iconic projects,” Mr Vatskalis said. The proposal was also submitted through the Territory economic reconstruction commission, and to the Deputy Prime Minister in response to his call for “shovel ready projects,” he said.
“It’s a great idea because it can happen very, very quickly… If they give us the money we’re asking for we can start within months.”
Mr Vatskalis said the Federal Government could use the baths to generate economic activity. Spending the $150 million in developing a rock wall and baths will attract people to invest in the area, he said. The project would also include restaurants and retail spaces.
“Everything comes down to economic activity,” Mr Vatskalis said. “We need jobs. If you don’t get jobs you don’t get population… you don’t get GST… you don’t get the health services that everybody wants… you don’t get the airlines fly in and out.”
By building underneath the Esplanade, the integrity of the Esplanade is maintained, he added. It creates an area that can have “other tourist venues, all the way down to Doctor’s Gully without affecting anything because between the low watermark and the high watermark.”
Mr Vatskalis said “of course there will be dream destroys,” when discussing the possible objections to the project.
The mayor said he used his opportunity at Mix 104.9 on Tuesday to hit up Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack who was also at the station.
It’s unclear what Mr McCormack’s position is on the Lameroo baths proposal.
‘Bye-bye (Esplanade) proposal’ if RSL doesn’t get formal proposal to council soon: Mayor
When questioned on the controversial RSL on the Esplanade development, Mr Vatskalis said he “wish[es] the RSL had done something about it”.
“At the moment we have nothing before council, apart from a talk with the RSL that took place months ago.”
Mr Vatskalis said he agrees with Alderman Simon Niblock’s motion calling for development proposals to be submitted within six week, or to “go away”.
“People make speculations about things that don’t happen and the council is in the middle,” Mr Vatskalis said. “I can’t make a decision without someone putting a [formal proposal] in front of us.”
“If they don’t put [a proposal in] within the six [weeks], then bye-bye proposal,” Mr Vatskalis said, “because we’re not going to consider it.”
Mr Vatskalis said “we have to face some harsh realities… [and] remember other things happen there,” including the bombing of Darwin ceremony which uses the carpark and Cenotaph.
The ceremony requires the army bringing in heavy equipment and putting grass there would be a mess, he said. The army also tells us they need that area for VIPs.
Was The Lameroo project consulted with the public or did a bunch of lifetime on the Government teat individuals just have a rare thought bubble and submit what they thought was a brilliant idea?