Oval fate is still in limbo as ASTC won’t rush their process

CAUTION is being exercised in the process to list Anzac Oval as a Heritage Place

Caution is being exercised in the process to list Anzac Oval as a Heritage Place. Picture: ANDREA JOHNSTON

CAUTION is being exercised in the process to list Anzac Oval as a Heritage Place.

The Heritage Council asked the Alice Springs Town Council what section of lot 678, which contains Anzac Oval, it wanted listed.

The lot contains the clubrooms, the grandstand built in 2012 and light towers. The Heritage Council asked if it was only the grassed area that was in question.

Councillor Marli Banks urged caution before Council responded, although it was asked to be before August 8, so a report could be prepared and considered.

“We do not want to be pushed into a corner for future use of the oval,” she said.

AMAZING OFFER: Subscribe to the NT News online for just $5 a month (min $5)

Director Technical Services Scott Allen had concerns about maintenance items that would need to be made exempt from the listing.

They included mowing fertilising, events, renovations, irrigation repairs and maintenance, installation of a reticulation system, removal of turf and competition and training. Ms Banks also questioned the process being followed with Culture Minister Lauren Moss writing to the Heritage Council instead of dealing directly with the ASTC as the owner of the land.

“I am not sure this is the process we are following,” she said.

“We need a report on what is being requested by the Heritage Council.” Ms Banks also referred to a matter connected to the Anzac Oval/National Indigenous Art Gallery debate that was to be discussed in the confidential section of Council.

“How do we go forward to consolidate the information in open Council?” she asked.

ASTC Chief Executive Officer Rex Mooney said Council officers would work with the proposals until the Committee Meeting scheduled for Monday, August 12. The Heritage Council wrote to the Alice Springs Town Council requesting an update on current views and which area of lot 678 it wanted heritage listed.

Ms Moss wrote to the Heritage Council for more information from two key stakeholders, ASTC and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, before making a decision.

The Heritage Council asked, on behalf of Ms Moss:

• Whether the ASTC still supports the permanent declaration of Anzac Oval as a heritage place

• If so, what ASTC thinks the boundary of the declared heritage place should be; and

• Whether the ASTC has any other current information that it would like to provide about its aspirations for the long-term use of the site?

It wanted an answer by August 8.

Mr Mooney said he thought there should be room for a decision to be deferred and he would write to the Heritage Council to confirm this.