City of Palmerston has released its draft Municipal Plan 2023-24, a road map for the year ahead, which reflects the Council’s commitment to building and supporting a thriving community. The draft plan aims to convey Council's vision and provide details about our priorities for projects, events, and services to represent a shared vision for the future of the city. 

City of Palmerston Mayor, Athina Pascoe-Bell, said “as Palmerston continues to grow and evolve, it’s important we acknowledge and present a plan that reflects this. The community are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft Municipal Plan including its proposed rates and charges for the upcoming financial year.

We are excited for the opening of our largest infrastructure project to date, SWELL. The $19.4M project will see the previous pool transformed into a swimming, wellness, events, leisure and lifestyle precinct for the entire community to enjoy,” she said.

Council will continue to prioritise the community and celebrate its culture through extensive free events and community programs.

“Our events season is about to kick off, which highlights, supports and engages with our diverse community. This includes our outdoor movie screening, live music, street parties and the return of our two largest events – the Palmerston Youth Festival and Palmerston Christmas Wonderland. We will continue to support our community by committing $250,000 towards grants and sponsorships through our Community Benefit Scheme.

We’ll continue to deliver an extensive capital works program of $7.85M towards enhancing Palmerston’s roads, playground, pathways and lighting infrastructure. Stage 2 of Zuccoli and Surrounds Community Hub will see a skate park and pump track. An exciting new project is the redevelopment of the Driver Resource Centre as a new community facility. We will have initial design drawings completed this year to redevelop this into a modern facility the community can utilise,” Mayor Pascoe-Bell said.  

Building a sustainable future for our city is a core objective and is reflected throughout our projects and initiatives. 

“We look forward to completing the upgrade of the Archer Waste Management Facility to improve the user experience. Greening the city remains a focus with the continuation of our verge beautification assistance program and $608,000 committed to tree planting. 

Community safety remains a high priority for Council, and we have several initiatives that work towards this, including security patrols in partnership with the Northern Territory Government, new Animal Management By-Laws and management of laneways,” she said. 

Producing a budget amidst current economic pressures, whilst ensuring a high service delivery level is maintained, presented its share of challenges. Council has worked hard to deliver a rate increase well below the current CPI to minimise the cost burden to the community. 

“City of Palmerston is proposing a rate increase of 4.3% to residential properties and 4.9% to commercial and industrial properties. 

The Waste Management Charge is set at an increase of $47 for this financial year. This is a charge that has been instigated through the Shoal Bay Waste Management Facility which is governed by City of Darwin. This charge was unexpected, given City of Darwin has been slowly and consistently increasing this charge over the last 6 years, which City of Palmerston has been absorbing.

This means, for most property owners (68%) they will see an increase of $39 per year to their rates, plus a $47 waste charge. This equates to $1.65 per week.

While I understand that any rate increase may cause concern, it is important to note that these increases are necessary to ensure that our city continues to thrive towards our vision of achieving a place for people, and we will continue to minimise costs to the community that are within our control.”

Additionally, Council has released its Draft Long-Term Financial Plan 2024-33 for consultation. This document outlines how Council will ensure its financial sustainability over the next 10 years.

The Draft Municipal Plan and Draft Long-Term Financial Plan are available to view at Council’s website, palmerston.nt.gov.au, with feedback closing 01 June 2023. 
 

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Media Contact: 0427 548 014
media@palmerston.nt.gov.au