LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Sir – The Alice Springs Town Council cannot give away Anzac Oval unless the Gunner Government provides real answers to the questions Alice Springs people are asking.
The government is pressuring the council to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) giving them carte blanche freedom to go ahead with their plans to bulldoze and change Anzac Oval forever.
MOUs are tokenistic and rarely worth the paper they are written on. Council cannot be duped by this coercive tactic. Alice Springs residents want detail and precise commitments around exactly what the repurposing of Anzac Oval will mean, not vague concepts and motherhood statements.
Alice Springs people still have questions that the Government needs to answer before Anzac Oval is repurposed for the National Indigenous Art Gallery.
Car parking is a huge area of concern. Where will CBD workers park? Where will senior citizens using the Centre park? Where will people attending services at the Catholic Church park?
The creation of a new rugby league precinct, exactly where will that be built? How much funding is the Government prepared to stump up for this? And most importantly, will these amenities be fully functional before Anzac Oval is repurposed?
People are also concerned about the name of Anzac Oval? Will the name be dumped or retained?
The history of Anzac Oval needs to be recognised. Exactly what will the Government do to ensure that the history of Anzac Oval is not destroyed with the grandstands and amenities upgraded just a few years ago?
The Gunner Government has seriously mismanaged this whole process. It beggars belief how they could turn something so positive as the building of a National Indigenous Art Gallery in Alice Springs into such a debacle.
Regrettably it seems that it is now up to our local government elected members, our town councillors, to ensure that the town gets the best possible deal for Anzac Oval on Monday. It is important that Anzac Oval is not signed away for less than the enormous value we all place on it.
Robyn Lambley (pictured)
Independent Member for Araluen
Saturday, April 20, 2024
The freedom of the press still furnishes that check upon government which no constitution has ever been able to provide – Chicago Tribune.
Blah blah blah. No one is listening (Government), and they don’t care what anyone else wants.
Damien Ryan, please respond.
What is wrong with the old Melanka site. It is sitting doing nothing.
The sentiments of the community do not matter as the government will just resort to compulsory acquisition.