NEWS Mall move to boost CBD

Council Reporter

A MOVE to the Smith St mall could be on the cards for Darwin council’s chambers and CBD library thanks to the sale of the Cavenagh St car park.

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis said the $14.6 million received in the sale of the car park, which will allow construction on the CDU city campus to begin this year, would be reinvested into council facilities.

Funds will be put into projects to stimulate the local economy with the mall earmarked as a possible new home for council.

“Bringing more of council’s community services such as rangers and the library into a more central location will activate our CBD and create pedestrian traffic for our retailers and improve safety – it will mean more security presence,” he said.

“The new location will improve accessibility.

“The city is not only the university, it is State Square, the laneways and other things.”

The works within the city and to relocate council facilities will roll out over the coming months, firstly through an expression of interest process that will target local businesses to continue to transform the CBD.

But with any move still in the early stages of planning, council does not know where the new library or council chambers, which would include customer and ranger services, would be located.

Mr Vatskalis said council’s current facilities had aged over time and were in need of an upgrade to adhere to updated safety standards, while relocation of council chambers would also include customer services and ranger services.

Darwin council’s four libraries generate $1.48 million annually and issued almost 500,000 loans in the 2018/19 financial year.

Council continues to work on an overall library strategy, aiming to build a sustainable and diverse set of programs to inspire a love of reading, integrate teaching and learning approaches and promote equity and diversity.