1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,720
Speaker 1: Now, there's never any shortage of things to discuss on

2
00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:04,800
Speaker 1: this show, and yesterday we learned the City of Darwin

3
00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:09,360
Speaker 1: Council has two projects planned for Kavana Street in the CBD,

4
00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:14,320
Speaker 1: one of which includes replacing the aggregated concrete pavement and

5
00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:17,279
Speaker 1: planting more trees. Now, the Lord Mayor Combat Scalus joined

6
00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,720
Speaker 1: us on the show. He said there are plans to

7
00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,400
Speaker 1: trial pavers which have already been ordered in Indonesia, but

8
00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,159
Speaker 1: businesses we've spoken to said that they weren't aware of

9
00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:29,200
Speaker 1: the project and say that they've not been consulted with.

10
00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,720
Speaker 1: Now one counselor behind the project contacted us keen to

11
00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:36,239
Speaker 1: come on and explain what is happening, and that counselor

12
00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:39,280
Speaker 1: joins me in the studio right now. Mick Palmer, good

13
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:40,080
Speaker 1: morning to you.

14
00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:41,080
Speaker 2: Good morning Katie.

15
00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:42,879
Speaker 1: Good to have you on the show. Now, Mick, what

16
00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:45,840
Speaker 1: does the pavement project involve?

17
00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,479
Speaker 2: Well, it started some years ago when me and others

18
00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 2: identified a problem with the exposed aggregate pavements forgot the

19
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:58,040
Speaker 2: city in that you can wash them, you can't clean them. Yep,

20
00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,920
Speaker 2: they are in places absolutely filthy and some of our

21
00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:06,000
Speaker 2: visitors take the opportunity to defecate a urinate on our

22
00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:11,480
Speaker 2: pavements and on our foot paths, and that gets merely absorbed, so.

23
00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:12,560
Speaker 3: It becomes pretty grass.

24
00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:18,160
Speaker 2: It becomes pretty grass, and we decided to have a

25
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:20,000
Speaker 2: look at alterned if so. The first onib we looked

26
00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,959
Speaker 2: at was replacing what's there with granite, but that's hideously expensive.

27
00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:28,840
Speaker 2: And then the opportunity raise to have a look at

28
00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:36,480
Speaker 2: these these porcelain tiles stone look tiles, which are a

29
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,640
Speaker 2: lot better option and you don't need to do any digging.

30
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:42,720
Speaker 2: They go straight over the top of the footpath, so

31
00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:44,840
Speaker 2: there is no excavations in.

32
00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, okay, so you're not going to be having

33
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:47,880
Speaker 1: to dig.

34
00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,600
Speaker 2: Up the No, no, no, no, okay. The people that

35
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,120
Speaker 2: have been complaining know that they were told that, have

36
00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:54,560
Speaker 2: been told that the number of times.

37
00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,480
Speaker 1: So you're saying that the retailers have been consulted with

38
00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,720
Speaker 1: a few with me, because retailers contact us after the

39
00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,840
Speaker 1: show yesterday saying they know nothing about this project.

40
00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,120
Speaker 2: Well, I faked, certainly, the one on the corner was faked.

41
00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,440
Speaker 2: The one across the raid I was faked, the one

42
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:12,160
Speaker 2: in Alfred's.

43
00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:13,360
Speaker 3: So just talk us.

44
00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,640
Speaker 1: Through exactly where it's going to sort of happen, So

45
00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,600
Speaker 1: our listeners have a really clear idea.

46
00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:22,520
Speaker 2: From next to the old Dara cel yep, around the

47
00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:28,240
Speaker 2: corner and up up Knucky Street Street toward.

48
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,960
Speaker 1: The lane and so to then and how far across

49
00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,079
Speaker 1: the intersection like we're fishing in outdoor world is does

50
00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:40,040
Speaker 1: it sort of go across.

51
00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:40,200
Speaker 2: It is indeed a trial Yep, we're trialing them to

52
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:40,600
Speaker 2: see that.

53
00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,280
Speaker 1: And just the just the like the walkway area path,

54
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,080
Speaker 1: just the footpath. So how many square meters are we talking?

55
00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:50,160
Speaker 2: Do you know if the would be less than four hundred?

56
00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,040
Speaker 3: I think okay? And is it?

57
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,359
Speaker 1: And then it sort of heads towards just towards the corner.

58
00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,880
Speaker 2: Of that block, Yeah, to the.

59
00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,120
Speaker 1: To that ramp that takes you into the city, like

60
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,799
Speaker 1: into the mall kind of thing, rain Tree Park into

61
00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:06,440
Speaker 1: these just trying to make sure.

62
00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,600
Speaker 3: Our listeners know exactly where we're talking about.

63
00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,680
Speaker 1: Now in terms of the pavers, So you've brought one

64
00:03:11,680 --> 00:03:14,040
Speaker 1: in for me today, which I know which old tile

65
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:15,920
Speaker 1: I'll try and show. I'll try and get a photo

66
00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,080
Speaker 1: for our listeners to see. But so in terms of

67
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,560
Speaker 1: choosing that tile, why was that chosen? Because are their

68
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:24,880
Speaker 1: concerns it's going to be hot.

69
00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:30,079
Speaker 2: I left it to the expert. YEP, they've had the

70
00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,840
Speaker 2: company concerned has had these titles, these particular ones tested

71
00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:40,960
Speaker 2: slip tested in Australia to Australian conditions and they've got

72
00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:44,720
Speaker 2: the they've got the certification for that. We could lay

73
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,600
Speaker 2: them down in terms of our insurance, the public liability insurance,

74
00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,680
Speaker 2: we couldn't put them down our listener meet these Australian standards.

75
00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,360
Speaker 1: So Mick I got the I get the impression from

76
00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:57,960
Speaker 1: the retailers that it's probably not so much the project

77
00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,360
Speaker 1: that they've got an issue with, but the timing in

78
00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:03,480
Speaker 1: terms of work happening throughout the dry season.

79
00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,640
Speaker 2: When they're only be a couple of days, so it'll

80
00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:06,200
Speaker 2: only take.

81
00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 3: A couple of days.

82
00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:07,680
Speaker 2: Takes a couple of days.

83
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,200
Speaker 3: It's not going to be like the Smith Street situation.

84
00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:15,480
Speaker 2: We've got. These are tilers. They're in an out fast

85
00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:17,600
Speaker 2: very quickly. Yeah, we've got to and we've got to

86
00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,520
Speaker 2: put them in a place that's high traffic. We're trialing

87
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,200
Speaker 2: a pavement. We can't stick them on a wall to

88
00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,640
Speaker 2: see how the work as a pavement.

89
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:28,680
Speaker 1: You've got you've got to put them a yeah, yeah,

90
00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,440
Speaker 1: fair enough mix so is the project already approved, because

91
00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:34,479
Speaker 1: when we spoke to the mayor yesterday he made it

92
00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,200
Speaker 1: sound like there is still consultation that needs to happen.

93
00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,040
Speaker 2: Well, it's approved, the tiles have been ordered, the contractor

94
00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:41,839
Speaker 2: has been appointed.

95
00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:46,920
Speaker 1: Ah, so it is, But obviously it does sound as

96
00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:48,640
Speaker 1: though there still needs to be a bit of liaising

97
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:49,680
Speaker 1: with council starf.

98
00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:52,440
Speaker 2: They went down there, Yes, the stuff went down there.

99
00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:54,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were on the corner talking.

100
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 1: I think from what we'd heard from one of the

101
00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,240
Speaker 1: retailers yesterday, they're on the corner talking.

102
00:04:58,279 --> 00:04:59,839
Speaker 3: He went out and asked some questions.

103
00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 1: But are they going to like are they going to

104
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:04,800
Speaker 1: go back in and maybe consult or talk to them

105
00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:06,000
Speaker 1: a little bit more about the project?

106
00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:07,000
Speaker 3: How long it's going to take.

107
00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,240
Speaker 2: The project shouldn't take long at all. I mean, as

108
00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:11,800
Speaker 2: I said, it's only a few days.

109
00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,560
Speaker 1: So a tender was obviously released, it's approved. How much

110
00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:16,760
Speaker 1: is it all costing.

111
00:05:17,320 --> 00:05:20,440
Speaker 2: At this stage? I don't know. I'm not previate to that.

112
00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:25,360
Speaker 2: At this stage, surely we should know I can find out.

113
00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:27,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, yep, all right, we'll follow you up for that

114
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,200
Speaker 1: in terms of you know, like if this does work

115
00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:32,880
Speaker 1: and if it works out to be a you know,

116
00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:35,240
Speaker 1: like a really nice sort of area and something that

117
00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,560
Speaker 1: people like. What other areas would you consider?

118
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:41,520
Speaker 2: Right, this is a test pad for the whole of

119
00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,520
Speaker 2: the CBD to replace or to overlay those as I said,

120
00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,200
Speaker 2: that exposed aggregate, which is just awful. It's just awful.

121
00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:53,200
Speaker 1: Yeah, Like I know you can see in some areas

122
00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:54,119
Speaker 1: how grows it gets.

123
00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:55,160
Speaker 3: Like, Look, my.

124
00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,839
Speaker 1: Biggest concern is that for any city business, after what

125
00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:01,240
Speaker 1: we've seen in Smith Straight and some of the concerns

126
00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,560
Speaker 1: that have been raised with me by those retailers in

127
00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,840
Speaker 1: Smith Street, that you know, for people that are working

128
00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,080
Speaker 1: really hard to try and make our city a great place,

129
00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:10,839
Speaker 1: the last thing you want is for their business to

130
00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:12,360
Speaker 1: be the.

131
00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:17,360
Speaker 2: One on the corner we had access all the time.

132
00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:21,520
Speaker 2: There will be no denial of access. He's got two doors,

133
00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,279
Speaker 2: one on the corner, one about three meters up Nunkey Street.

134
00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:29,960
Speaker 2: You know he'll have access INDUI the whole of the time.

135
00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:32,560
Speaker 1: So I guess, you know, it seems to me that

136
00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,479
Speaker 1: a discussion like that, a further discussion obviously needs to

137
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,920
Speaker 1: be had with council staff to those retailers.

138
00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:39,520
Speaker 2: I want to talk, I want spoke to them. I've

139
00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:43,400
Speaker 2: been there last year previous, but it's.

140
00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:45,599
Speaker 3: Start questions now, like you know, that's.

141
00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:46,960
Speaker 2: The thing that changed.

142
00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,960
Speaker 1: Yeah, look, you know, to play devil's advocate though the

143
00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,640
Speaker 1: council can't be arrogant about it.

144
00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:54,919
Speaker 3: You know, they've got to go in onto.

145
00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:58,520
Speaker 2: Not been arrogant. Yeah, nor can we go and live

146
00:06:58,520 --> 00:07:02,000
Speaker 2: in their pockets. And eventually you've got to do something.

147
00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:06,520
Speaker 2: Something has to happen. It will be a minor inconvenience.

148
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:08,800
Speaker 3: During peak tourism season.

149
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,840
Speaker 2: Well, it depends when he does.

150
00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:15,960
Speaker 1: It, as in when the contractor doesn't.

151
00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:19,920
Speaker 3: Well that's this is the thing, you know, it's wonderful.

152
00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:20,240
Speaker 1: Yeah.

153
00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,120
Speaker 2: Not in a position to speak directly the council contractors, Ye.

154
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,280
Speaker 1: No, definitely, yes, we don't want you getting in trouble

155
00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:29,760
Speaker 1: for that. Well, let us know if there is you know,

156
00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,200
Speaker 1: if we are able to get some of that detail

157
00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:33,840
Speaker 1: in terms of how much it's going to cost and

158
00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,120
Speaker 1: whether they might be able to do it after hours

159
00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:38,800
Speaker 1: or what the situation is. As you said, you're not

160
00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:41,480
Speaker 1: you know, you're obviously not able to speak to those contractors.

161
00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,760
Speaker 1: You're a counselor not not in charge of those No,

162
00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,320
Speaker 1: so look we will see what else we can find out.

163
00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:50,880
Speaker 1: But Mick, I appreciate you coming in this morning, appreciate

164
00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,880
Speaker 1: you giving us some further detail as well about that project.

165
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:56,240
Speaker 1: How long it's sort of you know, how long it's

166
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:57,840
Speaker 1: going to take. I mean the fact that it's only

167
00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:59,400
Speaker 1: going to take a couple of days. I think we'll

168
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,040
Speaker 1: probably make people feel much more at ease and having

169
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,160
Speaker 1: the tiles laid on top of the current concrete.

170
00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:08,680
Speaker 2: I don't know where they got the idea that we're

171
00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,560
Speaker 2: going to dig up the concrete from. Nobody's ever suggested that.

172
00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:14,800
Speaker 1: Well, Mick Palmer, I always appreciate you coming in for

173
00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,400
Speaker 1: a chat. Thank you very much for your time this morning. Thanks,

174
00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:18,320
Speaker 1: thank you,