CBD image is ‘drowning in concrete’
A FORMER Territory politician believes it is time for investment in heritage restoration, saying we are now drowning in concrete after 20 years of steady development.
Roger Steele, 77, is a former Speaker of the Northern Territory Parliament during the chief ministership of Ian Tuxworth. He wants to see three projects – the Lameroo Beach baths, an aviary at the Duke St rainforest and an amalgamation between the George Brown Botanic Gardens and the vacant Myilly Point land.
Mr Steele, who first arrived in Darwin in 1948, said the local economy is in distress and requires economic, historical and cultural renewal.
“The last 20 years has been a developer’s picnic and we are now drowning in concrete,” he said. “The need for comp- lementary investment and heritage restoration has been ignored. Tourists don’t come to Darwin to look at new buildings. The waterfront project was a reasonable initiative, however it comes at the expense of local retailers. No real green development has been realised aside from the Charles Darwin National Park.”
Mr Steele said he understood there were plans for a walkway along the front of the Esplanade but the baths added a new dimension.
“When I was a kid I went to Lameroo Beach baths. We used to come down here and swim and the tides would come in and fill the baths up – it was just a wonderful experience,” he said. “I understand government’s and council are considering going around the escarpment with a walkway it wouldn’t be beyond calculations to consider a seawater swimming pool.”
Mr Steele said the idea of turning Duke St into a bird aviary and amalgamating Myilly Point and the botanic gardens would give tourists something extra to do during their stay.
“The stolen generations and their descendants who were locked up in the Kahlin Compound – as well as current local residents – deserve certainty around the future of the Old Hospital site,” he said.