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Speaker 1: Well, joining me in the studio for the first time

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Speaker 1: for twenty twenty five, it is the Mayor of Palmerston,

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Speaker 1: Athena Pasco Bell. Good morning to you, Good morning, great

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Speaker 1: to have you in the studio.

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Speaker 2: Man.

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Speaker 1: Now, I know there's plenty going on and you've certainly

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Speaker 1: been busy with the Australia Day, Citizenship and Australia Day

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Speaker 1: celebrations that were held earlier in the week. Tell us

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Speaker 1: a little bit more well about those new Aussie citizens.

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Speaker 2: Yes, we had thirty new citizens welcomed to Australia basically

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Speaker 2: then they came from twelve different countries, so we had

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Speaker 2: a lovely citizenship ceremony and of course we also announced

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Speaker 2: the winners of our Australia Day Awards. So a big

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Speaker 2: congratulations to Rodney Greenwood. Rodney's been an exceptional leader at

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Speaker 2: the Palmerston Raiders football Club, where he's increased membership fifty

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Speaker 2: six since twenty nineteen and has established a really successful

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Speaker 2: women's team and the club now participates in a whole

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Speaker 2: lot of activities in relation to community and doing a

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Speaker 2: whole lot of things. Yolanda Kanya was our Young Citizen

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Speaker 2: of the Year and she's done some outstanding work with

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Speaker 2: community organizations such as Vibrant Diverse Cultures, Football Without Borders

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Speaker 2: and Rotoract and t Young Professionals. And our community event

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Speaker 2: of the year was the Palmerston Nadock Committee's Elders Lunch,

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Speaker 2: which brought together one hundred elders from across the Palmeston

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Speaker 2: region for a lovely lunch.

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Speaker 1: I really like the awards ceremonies that happen for Australia

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Speaker 1: Day and some of the people that are recognized because

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Speaker 1: you know, so often they are people that would not

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Speaker 1: put themselves forward for awards like this in any way,

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Speaker 1: so then when they're recognized, they're truly stunted. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And we had the best response for nominations this year

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Speaker 2: as well, so far more than any other year we've received,

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Speaker 2: which is really good because all those groups and people

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Speaker 2: now are getting that recognition that they really deserve.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is so nice. I'm really pleased to hear

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Speaker 1: that someone full territory and some wonderful Palmerston residents recognized

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Speaker 1: there now. Tell me I know the council recently appointed

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Speaker 1: a new CEO who's going to start in the role

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Speaker 1: in March, who was the successful candidate.

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Speaker 2: It was Andrew Walsh. He's coming to us from West

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Speaker 2: Arnham Regional Council, so we're very excited to welcome Andrew

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Speaker 2: on the tenth of March.

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Speaker 1: Tenth of March and so previously at the West Arnam

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Speaker 1: Regional Council, so that's good. Comes with experience obviously.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he comes with experience, has been a CEO previously

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Speaker 2: at that regional council. He also worked at East Darnham

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Speaker 2: Regional Council as well, so we're looking forward to having

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Speaker 2: him commenced with us in just a few weeks time.

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Speaker 1: Hey, there's been quite a bit happening out in Palmerston

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Speaker 1: by the look of it. I know that you guys

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Speaker 1: had shared some footage of a crocodile in Marlow Lagoon

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Speaker 1: that was actually the fifteenth of January. Has it been

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Speaker 1: caught or what did you have to do?

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Speaker 2: Look, it hasn't been caught. And there are two traps

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Speaker 2: in there because there was one I think spotted just

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Speaker 2: before Christmas. So the first trap went in on the

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Speaker 2: twenty third December and then there was another siding about

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Speaker 2: a week ago and a second trap has been installed.

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Speaker 2: A crocodile management team from Parks and wildlife do all

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Speaker 2: of that. The council rangers don't handle crocodiles, so they

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Speaker 2: are keeping an eye on the traps and rebaiting them

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Speaker 2: as necessary. But as yet I haven't heard that any

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Speaker 2: of the crocs have been captured, but one is apparently

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Speaker 2: a salty So just a general warning. As we all

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Speaker 2: know up here around any waterway there could be a

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Speaker 2: croc and this time of year they do tend to

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Speaker 2: move around the waterways, so just be very careful near

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Speaker 2: any water in Palmstan, Darwin, the rural area, anywhere you

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Speaker 2: go there is potential for a crocodile.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it is an area where a lot of

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Speaker 1: people take their animals for walks and things like that,

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Speaker 1: isn't it it is?

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Speaker 2: And also you know around Jurac, just be wary because

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Speaker 2: there have been quite a few I guess resident freshwater

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Speaker 2: crocodiles in those lakes as well. And while they might

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Speaker 2: not attack a human, especially the freshies, they will often

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Speaker 2: try for a small animal. So you know, keep your

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Speaker 2: dogs away from the edge of the water around all

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Speaker 2: the waterways in Palmerston, and be wary of storm water

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Speaker 2: drains as well, the large open ones because they can

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Speaker 2: move up through there. You might recall a few years

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Speaker 2: ago there was a crocodile came out of the storm

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Speaker 2: water drain in Molden and attacked a wheel lib In,

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Speaker 2: so very wary around any water.

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Speaker 1: Only in the Northern Territory stories like that with the

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Speaker 1: salty Any idea how big you think it could be?

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Speaker 2: I think there was some reports on Facebook, but I

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Speaker 2: really don't know. I don't think it's around three meters.

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Speaker 2: It's probably smaller than that, but still it will still

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Speaker 2: take a dog or a small child. So keep your

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Speaker 2: you know, small creatures away from the water.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Now. I also know out in Parmestan the

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Speaker 1: community is being encouraged to get active in February with

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Speaker 1: a raft of free activities planned.

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Speaker 2: What's on offer so there's a whole range of activities

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Speaker 2: for different skill levels, abilities and interests. The free activities

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Speaker 2: include cardio, tennis, strength exercises for seniors. There's an aquatic

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Speaker 2: walking group at Swell Gym for infants and children's children, pilates,

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Speaker 2: yoga and some gym sessions at forty five.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff. And I know for us here at Mix

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Speaker 1: we get involved. We've got feb fits, so we all

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Speaker 1: get fit in February or we certainly all try to

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Speaker 1: be active now. Maya, I do want to ask, I

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Speaker 1: understand the rates are you today? What do people need

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Speaker 1: to know?

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Speaker 2: Yep, so installm AT three is due today and you know,

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Speaker 2: please try and pay it. If you still receive your

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Speaker 2: rates in the mail, you can sign up for easy

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Speaker 2: bill and have them delivered to your email instead. If

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Speaker 2: you are having any trouble paying, please contact our rates

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Speaker 2: offices and they can talk through some solutions with you. Otherwise,

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Speaker 2: interests starts to apply from tomorrow, so.

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Speaker 1: Okay, but if they do, if if they have got

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Speaker 1: any issues, get in contact with council today.

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Speaker 2: Get in contact and they'll help you sort it out.

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Speaker 1: Now, there's been a bit happening as well when it

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Speaker 1: comes to roadworks in the community. What are some of

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Speaker 1: the major updates.

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Speaker 2: So in October, which is a few months ago now,

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Speaker 2: we did some road and intersection resurfacing in Durak Gray

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Speaker 2: and in pine Lands. There is some more of that

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Speaker 2: planned early this year, so there'll be another thirty road

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Speaker 2: segments that will be treated by the end of May.

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Speaker 2: The wet season does see a lot of road damage

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Speaker 2: with potholes appearing, so please report them through to council,

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Speaker 2: and you just need to be a little bit patient

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Speaker 2: because it does take a bit of time for the

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Speaker 2: weather to clear up. They need about I think they

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Speaker 2: need about twenty four hours of dry weather so they

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Speaker 2: can patch a hole, otherwise it will just open up again.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, just report them through and you can download

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Speaker 2: the City of Palmerston app which you can report any

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Speaker 2: issue through that app. It also provides you a handy

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Speaker 2: bin reminder, so you know what day to put out

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Speaker 2: your recycle bin and your other bins. Excellent, so it

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Speaker 2: just pops up on your phone and says a bin

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Speaker 2: day tomorrow. And you can also find out what sort

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Speaker 2: of events and activities are happening at the City of

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Speaker 2: Palmeston through the app.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, good stuff. Hey. One of the other things that

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Speaker 1: you guys have been doing, and I reckon this is

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Speaker 1: a wonderful initiative that's happened around Darwin as well as

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Speaker 1: the planting of all the additional trees. Now I know

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Speaker 1: you've planted more than eight hundred trees before the wet

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Speaker 1: season and there's another round of planting to come.

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Speaker 2: Yep, so there's another thousand trees scheduled for late March,

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Speaker 2: so towards the end of the wet season where there

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Speaker 2: will still be lots of soil moisture and give them

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Speaker 2: time to establish. So that's been a big initiative. I

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Speaker 2: think since I took on the role as mayor about

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Speaker 2: seven years ago, we've been doing quite a lot of

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Speaker 2: tree planting and verge beautification throughout Palmerston and you can

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Speaker 2: really see those trees growing. If you have, like a virgin,

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Speaker 2: there are no trees and you want a tree, you

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Speaker 2: can fill out a form on Council's website and request

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Speaker 2: one to two trees to be planted in your verge.

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Speaker 2: As long as you agree to maintain them so water

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Speaker 2: them regularly, then yeah, Council can come around and do

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Speaker 2: that for you too.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff. Well, the Mayor of Palmerston Athena Pasco Bell.

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Speaker 1: Good to catch up with you. We'll talk to you

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Speaker 1: again soon. Thanks to you, thank you, thanks so much.