Lord Mayor’s clifftop Esplanade restaurant vision
One year since taking the top job, Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis reflects on his challenges and what’s ahead
CARS through the Smith St Mall, a clifftop restaurant on the Esplanade, an avenue of flowering trees leading into the city and removal of the Stuart Statue to the highway are all part of an ambitious agenda outlined by Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis as he marks his first year in the job. Mr Vatskalis told the Sun
day Territorian the Gunner Government was dragging its feet on dealing with the itinerant issue and those supportive of developing the city had to be more vocal. He also questioned whether party politics would not make for a more efficient decision-making process within council. “Council works collectively but it is the Lord Mayor that holds it all together. Now it doesn’t matter what happens, at the end of the day ... councillors claim kudos when something is good but if it goes wrong it is the Lord Mayor who has to answer for it,” he said. “There are 13 individuals and we don’t have party politics. At first I thought that was a good idea but now I’m not so sure because with party politics you generally tend to caucus and come to a position. Now we have 13 posi- tions. But the good thing is the majority of the aldermen understand the economic position at the moment and their position has become pro-development, pro economic growth.”
“Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has some great ideas but the problem he’s got is the council he’s working with” EDITORIAL — PAGE 12
CARS through the Smith St Mall, a clifftop restaurant on the Esplanade, an avenue of flowering trees leading into the city and removal of the Stuart Statue to the highway are all part of an ambitious agenda outlined by Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis as he marks his first year in the job.
In an extended interview with the Sunday Territorian, Mr Vatskalis said the Gunner Government was dragging its feet on dealing with the itinerant issue and those supportive of developing the city had to be more vocal.
He also questioned whether party politics would not make for a more efficient decisionmaking process within council.
“Council works collectively but it is the Lord Mayor that holds it all together. Now it doesn’t matter what happens, at the end of the day . . . councillors claim kudos when something is good but if it goes wrong it is the Lord Mayor who has to answer for it,” he said.
“There are 13 individuals and we don’t have party politics. At first I thought that was a good idea but now I’m not so sure because with party politics you generally tend to caucus and come to a position. Now we have 13 positions. But the good thing is the majority of the aldermen understand the economic position at the moment and their position has become pro-development, pro economic growth.
“The last 12 months a number of events conspired to slow what we wanted to be but in the next 12 months council will work much harder for the ratepayers and start to deliver.”
The change in the first year of the council has come in the form of a new chief executive officer and a new executive management team.
“We needed a person who was going to change the administrative approach of the staff and the way it operates. The council is going to start to act in a more proactive commercial sense,” he said.
It is this approach that will test the resolve of the council, his aldermanic colleagues and put him on a collision course with activist groups.
“A lot of our land is unused and can provide an alternative income so we don’t have to raise the rates 3 to 4 per cent every year,” he said.
“The people who dominate the debates (about development) are the negative ones. The lights at Gardens Oval is the typical one. The people who didn’t want it were the most vocal. The thousands of people who support the AFLNT stayed quiet. If the community wants this place to rise and buzz then they have to come forward and support things to happen.
“Darwin has to stop thinking “no more, can’t do” we have to change to “yes we can do.” This is not a step for a poli- tical career. I’ve done my political career. If I am going to go against people who are not going to vote for me, so be it.”
Mr Vatskalis served as the Labor member for Casuarina and a minister in the Martin and Henderson Governments.
He points to the council’s approach on fees for alfresco dining and the removal of Saturday parking fees – parking time limits still apply and people can be fined for overstaying – as an example of a better approach.
“The alfresco dining charges were higher than Adelaide,” he said. “Having been in politics with Mick Palmer (an alderman who is a former CLP minister) we understand what makes this place tick and it is the economy. How can you actually advance the economy when you overcharge people for something?
“It would cost too much to abolish the parking cost plus it would clog the city with public servants who park there every day. So let’s start by cancelling fees on a Saturday and see how it goes. We have been going for six months and there are no complaints.”
Moving forward, Mr Vatskalis has a list of tasks he wants to action. The first of those will be the Esplanade with the removal of the coffee bush on the escarpment to start improving sea views. He is also keen to see a restaurant in an area near the Cenotaph, potentially off the cliff. This is a project, once the underground carpark at State Square opens and the 70 carparks at the Cenotaph become obsolete.
“We’ve got the situation that in the best park in Australia you can’t see the ocean. I thought, ‘ Bloody hell, I can’t believe it’. I was amazed we allowed declared weeds like coffee bush to occupy the Esplanade and see all these native trees struggling,” he said.
“With the Government putting in the underground carpark, our own carpark at the Cenotaph becomes defunct. That’s council land and I want to see that developed into a restaurant overlooking the ocean. We could look at building a boardwalk or a series of boardwalks below the escarpment all the way to Dr’s Gully.”
While at Daly St, which leads to the Esplanade, he wants to turn it into an avenue of flowering native trees and he is going to seek the advice of local horticulture experts to assist with the process. He will also look at moving the statue of John Stuart, which sits at the Knuckey St end of the Smith St Mall.
Meanwhile, among his most controversial ideas is the Mall being opened to traffic from 6pm to 6am. “Why do we have the mall closed all the time?” he said. “I am going to find out if it is possible to have the Mall open . . . unless we think outside the square we will not develop the city. Opening the Mall will bring life to the Mall at night and remove the itinerants.”
On the issue of itinerants, he blames the Gunner Government.
“The Gunner Government are dragging their feet,” he said. “The reality is we have a problem.
“We interviewed a good CEO during our recruitment process and he withdrew because when he was walking to the interview in a suit he was accosted by a bunch of itinerant drunks for money and he said: “I’m not bringing my family to this town.”
“Do we have a problem — yes?” he said.
“We have to put the services out of Darwin, get a precinct together and put all the services together so they have access to everything in one spot.
“The homeless migrate to Raintree Park at night because of the lights and they feel safe. So let’s find a place where they can sleep and feel safe, give them a bed and access to all the services. The public service has to work together. Council doesn’t have the power to do it. The Government has to bite the bullet and do something.”