Community win for Alpurrurulam
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Mayor Steve Edgington has welcomed plans by the Northern Territory Government (NTG) to build a new police station out at Alpurrurulam.
Posted: Friday, 16 November 2018
Under the latest annual review of the NTG’s 10-year infrastructure plan 2018-2027, a proposed $10m for new police stations in Alpurrurulam and Elliott (2019-2020) has been highlighted for the Barkly region.
“This is great news,” the Mayor said. “I thank the residents, Local Authority members and our Alpurrurulam Ward councillor for lobbying so hard and advocating for the people of their community. I also thank the Territory Government for listening to us.”
Mayor Edgington said Council, the Alpurrurulam Local Authority and residents had all played a part in actively lobbying for a solution that benefited the community following the NTG’s decision to withdraw full-time officers earlier this year.
“The lack of a police presence in Alpurrurulam since February continues to have a detrimental effect on the community,” he said.
“Within three weeks of the withdrawal of a permanent police presence there was an increase in anti-social behaviour and alcohol related incidents in the community.
Mr Edgington said members of Alpurrurulam Local Authority and residents had begged the NTG to reinstate full-time officers. He also wrote to the government outlining the concerns of the community and the importance of police being based in the community fulltime.
“We argued that if a permanent police presence can’t be maintained, if the facilities aren’t suitable to have a permanent police presence, then proper planning needs to be underway to build a new purpose-built police station in Alpurrurulam.
“This latest 10-year-infrastrucute plan by the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics (DIPL) shows the NT Government has taken the key drivers of increasing service requirements and improving community safety seriously and I applaud the government for reconsidering,” he said.
“We look forward to hearing more from the NTG in the near future.”
You can download the NTG's Annual Review 10-year Infrastructure Plan 2018-2027 from https://dipl.nt.gov.au/__data/...