In early 2019, Council began trialling treatments in 11 laneways across three Palmerston suburbs to assess if the measures taken will help discourage anti-social behaviour in these areas. Spatial mapping was used to identify the laneways most suitable for the trial as well as a combination of lighting assessments, police reports, resident feedback and site inspections.

Project information

Stage 3 Part 1: Following the Ordinary Council Meeting on 17 September 2019, Council continued to trial laneway treatments based on recommendations from recent consultations. In addition to the recommendations, Council proposed to modify the treatments by adding either temporary full-time or night-time closures to seven of the laneways included in the trial.

Feedback

Council sought feedback on the proposed temporary full-time and night-time closures, with the consultation open for a three-week period, from Monday 14 October to Monday 4 November 2019

The community were able to provide feedback by completing online surveys, which have now closed, or visiting a pop-up location. 

Community Meetings

Livistona Park (near Gumnut Way) Moulden: Wednesday 16 October, 5.30pm - 6.30pm
Beaumont Park (near Politis Court) Moulden: Saturday 19 October, 9.30am - 10.30am

Discussion Kiosks

Bakewell Shopping Centre: Saturday 19 October, 12.00pm - 2.00pm
Moulden Shops: Thursday 24 October, 5.00pm - 7.00pm
Oasis Shopping Centre: Thursday 31 October, 12.00pm - 2.00pm 
Palmerston Shopping Centre (near Coles): Friday 1 November, 12.00pm – 2.00pm
Woodroffe Supermarket: Saturday 2 November, 10.30am – 12.30pm 
Bakewell Shopping Centre : Sunday 3 November, 3.00pm – 5.00pm
 

Residents are still able to provide feedback about implementing a trial in another series of laneways. To provide feedback or nominate a laneway for a future trial go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/laneways3futuretrial

Consultation 

Stage 1: (Feb-March 2019) Council spoke to residents to gather feedback on how people use the laneways before trial treatments were put in place.
Stage 2: (August 2019) Trial treatments were in place for approximately three months. Council sought to collect feedback to help evaluate the impact of the treatments. This feedback was considered in conjunction with data from police and pedestrian counters to help inform how Council will proceed with future laneway treatments. 
Stage 3: (October 2019) Council continued to trial laneway treatments based on recommendations from recent consultations. In addition to the recommendations, Council sought feedback from a three week-period, 14 October-4 November, to modify the treatments by adding either temporary full-time or night-time closures to seven of the laneways included in the trial:

Temporary night-time closure
Staghorn Court to Gumnut Way, Moulden
Staghorn Court to Livistona Park, Moulden
Gumnut Way to Livistona Park, Moulden
Livistona Park to Melastoma Drive, Moulden
Priest Circuit to Emery Avenue, Gray
Full time closures 
Politis Court to Strawbridge Park, Moulden
Politis Court to Strawbridge Crescent, Moulden

Council endorsed to trial these additional treatments at its Ordinary Meeting on 19 November 2019. In addition to these treatments, Council also endorsed trialling night-time closures at the following laneways:
Bonson Terrace to Staghorn Court, Moulden
Altair Court to Capella Court Woodroffe

The additional trial treatments are expected to be put in place from the end of November 2019 to March 2020. After this time the measures will be reviewed by Council and next steps will be considered.

Next steps

A final report taking into consideration all consultations and laneway trial treatments will be presented in March 2020. The report will detail the outcomes of the consultation and recommendations for treatments into the future not only for the existing trial laneways, but for additional laneways across Palmerston. These recommendations will also be informed by data gathered from NT Police about instances of anti-social behaviour.

Key documentation

Fact sheet and laneway map

Contact
If you would like to discuss the consultation or have any other questions relating to the trial, please contact Council by email laneways@palmerston.nt.gov.au or phone: (08) 8935 9922.