Northern Territory's New City

[Darwinite]

Wednesday 4 February, 2009
Weddell to be the Territory’s New City
The Chief Minister Paul Henderson today announced that Weddell would be the Territory’s new
city.
Speaking to an audience of business and community leaders in Darwin, Mr Henderson said an
estimated 10,000 blocks of land catering for a population of some 40,000 people would make
up the new city that would be situated just south of Palmerston
“Weddell will be the site of the Territory’s fourth city. Planning for the development of the site is
now underway with the first blocks likely to be turned off in 5 years,” Mr Henderson said.
“This will follow the development of four more suburbs in Palmerston and the new suburb of
Muirhead in Darwin. With the settling of the Kenbi Land Clim development will be able to
proceed in the medium to longer term on Cox Peninsula.
“That means the future direction of growth for the greater Darwin and Palmerston area can now
be determined for the next decade and beyond.
“The new city will have environmental considerations built in to transport, carbon footprint and
recycling.
“Of course the new city will need services and infrastructure like schools, shops, electricity,
parks, sporting grounds and roads and the challenge of providing for these will be part of our
vital planning work into the future.”The Chief Minister briefed business and community leaders on the results of intense planning
work undertaken by Government.
“The Territory has a growing economy and population – and this Government is undertaking
comprehensive planning to cater for this growth,” Mr Henderson said.
“The population of Greater Darwin and Palmerston is projected to increase by 19,000 to
133,000 in 2013, by 39,000 to 154,000 by 2021, an increase of 34 per cent. In 2030 the
population is forecast to be 177,000 – an increase of 63,000 from 2006—or 55 per cent.
“Much of this growth will be housed in Palmerston and Weddell.
“As a result of this growth it is estimated that the Territory Government will need to provide:
• 1700 new dwellings of housing per year;
• Providing schools to service more than 7000 new students requiring approximately 430
additional teachers;
• 172 additional police;
• 293 additional nurses; and
• 54 additional doctors.
• We will need an additional 121 hospital bed places.
“This growth in services will also be matched by a major growth in the regions which is also
being addressed by the Government,” Mr Henderson said.
“While there is no doubt that the global financial crisis will impact on the Territory no where else
in Australia is looking forward to growth and expansion like the Territory…and this Government
is planning today to meet those needs.”

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25007192-12377,00.html

Interesting information, this could be a great place to invest as it is fairly close to the Inpex site - See attached press release.

Cheers

 

[Aaron Sice]

cheers - but pass.

 

[nhb74]

cheers - but pass.

Why pass?

Andrew

 

[Aaron Sice]

another satellite city? like Yanchep was meant to be the best thing since sliced bread, talked up, main roads were taken out there, a railway is proposed......and now, well, there's still minimal industry to support the major housing suburbs, so people still have to travel distances measured in space-time to get to work and back.

all it means is great big white elephant.

ravensthorpe was built around a nickel mine. schools were built, the whole town was subdivided into triplex and quad blocks to accomodate, roads were upgraded, 2000 workers flocked to the town.

12m later the mine was shut down.

ravensthorpe = ghost town.

yanchep not too far away.

weddell? well, i'll let someone else put money there for the moment.

 

[THEHEATH]

another satellite city? like Yanchep was meant to be the best thing since sliced bread, talked up, main roads were taken out there, a railway is proposed......and now, well, there's still minimal industry to support the major housing suburbs, so people still have to travel distances measured in space-time to get to work and back.

all it means is great big white elephant.

ravensthorpe was built around a nickel mine. schools were built, the whole town was subdivided into triplex and quad blocks to accomodate, roads were upgraded, 2000 workers flocked to the town.

12m later the mine was shut down.

ravensthorpe = ghost town.

yanchep not too far away.

weddell? well, i'll let someone else put money there for the moment.

What affect do people think this will have on existing areas. Ie. more land = less capital gain?? Or do existing suburbs become more attractive as they are closer to the city?

 

[pully]

new towns often lack transport and services. this adds to peoples costs for example petrol to get to existing medical services or work or even shops. the sense of isolation can make such places undesirable and therefore often cheaper.
it will also depend on the target market for the homes. is it going to be a dormitory suburb for darwin?
the distance is a fair way to major hospitals etc. what employment will be? there are often social probs in outer areas for a variety of reasons and this can make them undesirable. will it be dumping ground for so called social housing? generally lower cap growth for outer areas but yield can be good. the closeness to the city of exsisting suburbs may not be affected by this new town alone. the closer suburbs will need to be assessed individually re their attractiveness or otherwise. IMO regards

 

[aw1]

If you dont' live here you probably have no impression of where it is actually located and how close it is to existing infrastructure.

It is closer to Darwin than much of the greater Darwin rural area which already has 40,000 residents who drive to and from work in Darwin and Palmerston everyday.

Likely to be a 30-40 minute journey to the Darwin CBD.

 

[Aaron Sice]

and that's close.....?

sounds like Rockingham to Perth for me.

 

[THEHEATH]

30-40 mins isn't really a long time. Yes, maybe if you're driving at 120 km's on freeway you'll cover a fair distance but in suburbia with traffic, traffic lights, stop start etc.

 

[burty85]

30-40 mins isn't really a long time. Yes, maybe if you're driving at 120 km's on freeway you'll cover a fair distance but in suburbia with traffic, traffic lights, stop start etc.

Yeah but have you ever been to Darwin... Every thing is spaced out without the rush of big cities... travel time per distance covered is very good...

 

[Y33]

Darwin is on a penisular and all the new cities are generally south bound. Those that think 30-40 minutes at 120kmh on the freeway probably haven't been to Darwin. There are no freeways in Darwin. From Palmerston to Darwin takes round 30 minutes and depending on which road you take there is less than 10 traffic lights or about 5 traffic lights. Stop start traffic is basically unheard of. If heading in to Darwin from the northern suburbs like Casuarina approximately 20 Klms away you drive through about a dozen lights and easily arrive in around 12-15 minutes. Nothing is far as some people think and access to the hospital and other facilities is very easy. There are many people living in the rural outskirts of Darwin who find no need to go to the city as Palmerston and Casuarina have most of the govt departments or shops that people regularly visit. If you do need to go to the city it takes around 10-15 minutes to walk from the tax office to the court house which is on the opposite side of the city. Probably hard for some southerners to understand that every govt department is normally within 5-10 minutes of each one. then there are the banks, city hall, supermarkets, shops arcades, malls and post office. Darwin would easily be the most convenient city in OZ. Want to go on a holiday? Guess where the airport is? 10-15 minutes from the city, 5-10 minutes from Northern suburbs and 20-25 minutes from Palmerston.

The new city Weddell is just part of the normal expansion that is needed due to the amount of Govt land around Darwin.

Yes I'm very passionate about Darwin. If it wasn't for the crime it would be paradise.

 

[Aaron Sice]

I'm sure Darwin is fine - in fact, i know people who pyne (sp?) over leaving Darwin.

my concern is a satellite city, for residential, with limited services and employment opportunities.

my issue is you have to use the car for EVERYTHING - not cool, esp when oil tops out at $180US barrell in the next 18 months.

 

[AUSPROP...]

my issue is you have to use the car for EVERYTHING - not cool, esp when oil tops out at $180US barrell in the next 18 months.

luckily there won't be a shortage of greenbacks

 

[NOT 2 L8]

I'm sure Darwin is fine - in fact, i know people who pyne (sp?) over leaving Darwin.

my concern is a satellite city, for residential, with limited services and employment opportunities.

my issue is you have to use the car for EVERYTHING - not cool, esp when oil tops out at $180US barrell in the next 18 months.

Is not Joondalup a satelite city??

Cheers

Chrisv

 

[phil]

Wasn't there also talk of not enough (potable) water being available for the development?

Phil

 

[Y33]

BlueCard,

You don't have to use the car for everything and how many members here live within 20 minutes of a train station or bus stop to the city? Which vehicle uses more fuel a vehicle driven for 30 minutes in stop start traffic or a vehicle at 80 kmh for 30 minutes? Now you have your answer to the fuel question.