New land to fulfil Christmas wishes

Territorians looking to purchase land before Christmas have had their wishes granted.

Urbex, in association with the Northern Territory Government, have released their last land sale for the year at Johnston Ridge.

Seventeen large lots starting at an affordable price of $260,000 went on sale to the public today.

Urbex General Manager Wayne Rex said the release will help to ease growing pressures on housing affordability.

“We have strong demand for affordable land and housing, and have brought the Davies release forward to help meet some of it,” Mr Rex said.

“We’ve worked hard with the government and Council to get land ready for sale and Territorians into their homes sooner.”

Construction of the lots released for sale has commenced which Mr Rex says “means that purchasers will be able to commence construction of their homes next year”.

Nestled between Farrar Boulevard and the Stuart Highway, Johnston Ridge is now well developed.

“Residents are moving into their homes and Johnston Ridge is becoming a real community,” Mr Rex said.

“More than 175 lots have sold to date, which is two-thirds of the suburb.

“We sell land with plenty of room to move at very competitive prices.”

The lots in the current Davies release range in size from 780sqm to over 1,100sqm and are some of the largest available lots within a new community in the Darwin/Palmerston market.

Mr Rex said that “families who purchase in Johnston Ridge can build their home and add to it later or have plenty of room for a tinny and the kids to run around”.

Johnston Ridge is located within five minutes of the amenities of Coolalinga and Palmerston City Centre.

Territorians interested in land at Johnston Ridge can visit www.johnstonridge.com.au or call 1300 556 950.

NT Badminton says “We won’t leave Sports House without a new home”

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Members of the NT Badminton Association have vowed to stay at Sports House in Fannie Bay until a new venue for their sport is secured. 

The motion “…that members of NTBA only agree to leave Sports House when the NT Government identifies an alternative single venue accommodation solution that is acceptable to NTBA and a binding agreement is made” was passed at the NTBA Annual General Meeting yesterday.

The AGM, which was likely to be the NTBA’s last at Sports House, focused on badminton’s future after the NTBA rejected the NT Government’s offer of a 5 year commercial lease on a property in Woolner last week.

Independent Member for Nelson Gerry Wood MLA , ALP Member for Johnston Ken Vowles MLA, and a number of concerned local Fannie Bay residents participated in the spirited and emotional AGM. 

“The NT Government doesn’t seem to recognise the disastrous consequences that closure of Sports House, and the absence of a replacement facility, will have on our sport,” NT Badminton President Rodney Pearce said at the meeting.

“All of us at this meeting know that without a new home the sport is stuffed.”

Gerry Wood stated, “The Government sometimes has its priorities wrong. If it’s real about people’s health then the facilities that are required should be made available. They need to re-prioritise their land plans and allow NT Badminton’s new facility to be established before the Sports House site is sold and developed. I don’t think that it’s too hard.”

The NTBA said it will continue to impress the urgency of its need upon the NT Government and request that it allocates funding in the May 2014 Budget for construction of a new multi-purpose facility for Badminton, Judo and Table Tennis at Marrara.

“The proposal that NTBA has submitted is excellent,” Ken Vowles MLA said, adding that “the cost of the proposed facility is good value as it incorporates facilities for a number of sports”.

“While the ball is obviously in NT Government’s court, we’re happy to sit down with them to work together to come up with a solution,” NT Badminton’s Rodney Pearce said.

For more information visit www.saveoursport.org.au or follow NT Badminton on: www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT and twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT.

 

TIO ready to respond to Cyclone Alessia

With Cyclone Alessia approaching the Top End, TIO has activated plans to ensure it ready to respond to potential customer claims.

Insurance General Manger Michael Hoare said staff would be ready and available should the cyclone or associated flooding cause any damage.

“It is too late to update insurance for this event but there is still much Territorians can do to ensure they are ready,” Michael said.

“People’s homes should now be prepared and they should be familiar with their family emergency plan.

“We hope this cyclone causes no damage, but we are ready to respond if it does.”

In addition to having an emergency plan, Top Enders should:

·      Know where to go and what to do in the case of storm surge or flooding

·      Have their emergency kit prepared with portable radio, fresh batteries, non-perishable food, water and enclosed footwear. Don’t forget special medical or baby needs.

·      Have loose items secured and a safe place to protect personal belongings, photographs and documents.

·      Care for friends and neighbours.

For more information visit www.tiofi.com.au or call 1300 301 833.

Media enquiries – Tracy Jones on 0407 727 813

Future of NT badminton to be debated

The home of badminton in Darwin will be discussed at the NT Badminton Association (NTBA) Annual General Meeting on Monday 25 November 2013.

The AGM will be held at Sports House, Waratah Crescent in Fannie Bay from 7:45pm and is open to the public.

Earlier this week the NT Government granted badminton an extension of tenure at Sports House until 31 March 2014 and proposed the NTBA take on a 5 year commercial lease on a warehouse in Woolner at a cost of $165,000 per year, shared equally between badminton and the government.

But NT Badminton’s Dr Di Symonds said the NTBA rejected the lease proposal as it was too expensive.

“A lease of that value would without doubt destroy the sport and leave us financially ruined,” she said.

“We understand that most sport associations in the NT have peppercorn lease arrangements with government, or pay negligible sums of money, if anything, to ensure sports develop and the community benefits.

“We're not aware of any major sport associations in the NT with a commercial lease.”

Dr Symonds said the NT government also asked NT Badminton to reassess using community halls located on school grounds.

“To be told to go back and look at school halls again is very frustrating and  especially since we outgrew school halls back in the late 1970s, which led to the CLP Government at the time to allocate badminton Sports House,” she said.

“Sports House itself doesn’t meet our current needs or plan for development and growth."

NTBA continues to urge the government to support its proposal for a new, multi-purpose facility at Marrara.

Dr Symonds said the facility would address badminton’s need for a new home and allow table tennis, gymnastics and judo to meet current demand.

“Sixteen years ago NTG came up with a plan for a new multi-purpose facility at Marrara, incorporating badminton, table tennis, basketball and netball but the project was shelved,” she said.

“But the timing is now right. Please help us to save our sport!”

For more information visit or follow NT Badminton on:

www.saveoursport.org.au

www.facebook.com/SaveOurSportNT

twitter.com/SaveOurSportNT

Top Enders should prepare for cyclone threat

As the chance of a tropical cyclone affecting the Top End builds Territorians are reminded to review their insurance cover before it’s too late.

 Advice issued by the Bureau of Meteorology at 2:15pm today said the likelihood of a cyclone forming in our region on Saturday was ‘high’ (more than 50 per cent).

 TIO General Manager Insurance Michael Hoare said most insurers required cover or policy changes to be in place at least 72 hours before an extreme weather event.

 He said now is the time for people to contact TIO to purchase or update their cover.

“When a tropical cyclone is called it’s unfortunately too late for people to make changes to their policies,” Mr Hoare said.

“We encourage Top Enders to look at their cover for cyclone, flood and storm surge. TIO customers are automatically covered but those insured elsewhere should check their policies carefully.”

Mr Hoare also advised Territorians to prepare their homes and families for a cyclone by:

• Having a personal disaster plan for their family, including where to go and what to do in the case of storm surge or flooding
• Preparing an emergency kit with portable radio, fresh batteries, non-perishable food, water and enclosed footwear. Don’t forget special medical or baby needs.
• Secure loose items and plan how to protect personal belongings, photographs and documents.
• Care for friends and neighbours.

 For more information visit www.tiofi.com.au or call 1300 301 833.

 

Relationships Australia opens its doors in Katherine

After more than 25 years of operation Relationships Australia NT now has a permanent home in Katherine.

 

The charity organisation, which provides counselling and mediation services to local residents, has opened its doors on Katherine Terrace in the heart of town.

 

Relationships Australia NT Acting Chief Executive Officer Robyn Donnelly said the move reflected growth and increased demand for its services.

 

“It’s a wonderful time for the organisation, the community and our Katherine staff,” Ms Donnelly said.

 

“We’re very thankful to Sommerville and Catholic Care who have supported and shared their rooms with us over the years, until it was sustainable for us to open an office.”

 

Relationships Australia NT started offering counselling to Katherine residents in the late 1980s and extended its services to include mediation in 1990.

 

“During this time we evolved from having Darwin staff visit town to building our local team, from using hotel rooms and space at other industry providers to now having our own office.”

 

Relationships Australia NT helps up to 3500 Territorians on average annually and more than 20 per cent identify as Aboriginal.

 

Ms Donnelly said the organisation increasingly works with families and children.

 

“We provide assistance to families in various ways including strengthening relationships, mediation, counselling and support for those going through tough times,” she said.

 

Relationships Australia NT is located at Unit 5, 15 Katherine Terrace, Katherine.

 

For more information please call 1300 364 277 or visit www.nt.relationships.org.au

 

Territory business woman awarded Life Fellowship

Territory business woman Tracy Jones has been honoured with the highest award given by the Public Relations Institute of Australia – a Life Fellowship.

The Managing Director of Darwin-based public relations agency Creative Territory was inducted as a Life Fellow at a ceremony in Adelaide last night. The former journalist is the first Territorian to be awarded this honour.

Tracy’s service to the Public Relations Institute spans 12 years, including two years as National President, three years as National Treasurer and more than nine years on the Board of Directors.

She became the first Territorian to be inducted as a Fellow of the institute in 2003 and has been a member of the Council of the College of Fellows since that time.

She has also won numerous national Golden Target Awards and in 2010 was awarded the President’s Award for services to the institute.

Local business takes out national new enterprise award

When Darwin girl Holly Copping decided to return home to set up her own business little did she know that in less than a year her business would be thriving and her efforts recognised by a national award program.

Holly, who established Territory Laser Clinic in December 2012, is a recent recipient of the National New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) Association award for the Best New Business in 2013, a first for a Territory business.

NEIS is a self-employment program funded by the Department of Employment. The program helps eligible unemployed people become self-supporting and independent of Centrelink by establishing and running their own business.

The goal of NEIS is to help set up a sustainable business. To ensure the success of the programme, NEIS providers carefully select people with viable business ideas.

Mission Australia, the largest NEIS provider within Australia, provides accredited small business training, business advice, mentoring and ongoing income support for the first year of operation.

Holly worked with Mission Australia in the Northern Territory to establish her business, Territory Laser Clinic, to treat skin disorders similar to those that she had experienced as a teenager.

After graduating with qualifications in Dermal Therapies, her parents mortgaged their home to allow Holly to purchase the laser equipment and establish a professionally appointed premise.

Mission Australia went on to nominate Holly for the national award in recognition of the vital service Territory Laser Clinic provides to people living in the Territory and Holly’s ability to nurture and grow the business.

In the first year, Holly has already firmly established her business and employed a full time staff member.

Holly was thrilled to win the award and said that the Mission Australia QLD and NT Team was and continues to be of invaluable assistance in establishing her business. 

“From my own experience, I knew that there was a need in the Territory to help people suffering from skin disorders, but the response has been overwhelming.

“The business has grown immensely in a short period of time and I am extremely lucky to have the support of Territorians,” she said.

NT Badminton asks the public to “Please help us save our sport!”

The NT Badminton Association is calling on the local community to help save its sport, after the Northern Territory Government released plans to rezone and sells its home of thirty years in for new inner-city housing.

240 players from the Darwin Badminton and smaller clubs, including talented Territory juniors, will be left without a place to play and practice when Sports House in Fannie Bay is rezoned and sold.

The NT Badminton Association says the clubs will be evicted on 20 November 2013 and has called on the Northern Territory Government for an extension of tenure until a suitable replacement venue is made available. 

Association member Dr Di Symonds says the clubs have identified an alternative site but is concerned for the future of Badminton in the Northern Territory as its eviction nears.

“The clock is ticking,” Dr Symonds said.

“We’ve met with Government Departments, looked at alternative venues and commissioned an architect and engineer to design and cost a new multi-purpose venue for ready land at Marrara that would be an asset to the whole community.”

The $6.8 million proposal caters for a 3,500 square metre sports facility on land adjacent to the gymnastics facility at Marrara with eight badminton courts, eight table tennis tables, two Olympic-sized judo mats and enable gymnastics to double its current floor space.

Dr Symonds said the facility will service up to 2,700 Territory sportspeople every week across the four sports and fully meet community demand.

Badminton has built a strong community following over its 40 year history in Darwin and provides a range of health and social benefits to Territorians ranging in age from eight to 80.

The sport is played seven days a week, 50 weeks of the year and is home to national and international champions – the latest of whom represented the Territory in Sydney earlier this month at the Under 15 National Badminton Championships.

“Should the Northern Territory Government continue its intention to evict badminton without an appropriate alternative site, then badminton will most likely die,” Dr Symonds said.

“Please help us save our sport.”

NT Badminton will hold a Badminton Flash Mob in the Smith Street Mall at 12.00pm tomorrow to raise community awareness to their plight.

The sporting association will also open its doors at Sports House to the public with a “Badmintathon” over the next 20 days and invites people to come and try the sport, meet the players, view a display of the proposed new sporting venue and sign their petition urging the Northern Territory Government to support their proposal for a replacement facility.

More information and Open House times visit www.saveoursport.org,au or follow Save Our Sport on Facebook and SaveOurSportNT on Twitter.

New book tells tales of Relationships Australia’s beginning in the NT

Relationships Australian NT is a service that Territorians can depend on in trying times, yet a new book chronicling its 40 year history shows it too was lucky to survive Cyclone Tracy.

 In 1977 Secretary Alan Schreiber accounts, ‘The Darwin Marriage Guidance Council has gone through a very difficult and trying year. By about the middle of the year we lost the services of our Director, who was our only counsellor. The only lay counsellors that had served us, all left after the cyclone. After repeated and very costly advertising for a replacement, all applicants were found unsuitable.’

 The tale of the organisation’s recovery and other trials and tribulations will be unveiled at the launch of A history of Relationships Australia Northern Territory on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary on Monday 21 October.  

 Researched and authored by local historian Mickey Dewar, the book accounts for the organisation’s beginning in 1973 when it was deemed ‘the needs of the Northern Territory population at that time were so urgent that the normal requirement for a state council to self-fund for the first few years of operation were waived’.

 "In the beginning, the Marriage Guidance Council was an organisation which sought to provide advice and counsel for married couples living in Darwin who were separating,” Ms Dewar said.

 “Forty years later it is now a reflexive, multi-faceted support service providing assistance to the people of the Northern Territory across diverse areas of social need. This book is the story of how these changes took place.”  

 Renamed in 1995, Relationships Australia NT today has a broader emphasis on helping children and families in need and working with disadvantaged people.

 “We provide assistance to families in various ways including strengthening relationships, mediation, counselling and support for people going through difficult times,” Relationships Australia NT Marie Morrison said.

 “We also provide specialised services such as professional development and training through formal and informal courses, partnerships and community based programs for migrants and refugees, and culturally appropriate services for Aboriginal families, delivered by Aboriginal staff members.

 “Increasingly we’re also working with young people and have programs to divert them away from crime and disadvantage, through restorative justice community programs.”

 The launch of A history of Relationships Australia Northern Territory on the occasion of its fortieth anniversary will be held at Relationships Australia NT, ground floor 43 Cavenagh Street on Monday 21 October at 5:30pm, preceded by the organisation’s AGM.

 The public are invited to attend with light refreshments and canapés available. Please call to RSVP on call 8923 4999.

 For more information please visit www.nt.relationships.org.au.