Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler admits Cavenagh St shade structure vine growth has been slow

WITH the second annual progress report into the Darwin City Deal just released, the Minister in charge of Darwin’s beleaguered shade structure admits the vines haven’t grown ‘as fast’ as she would’ve liked

THE Minister in charge of Darwin’s beleaguered shade structure admits the vines haven’t grown “as fast” as she would’ve liked.

The comments from Infrastructure Minister Eva Lawler come after the second annual progress report into the tri-government Darwin City Deal was released last week,

Use our Slider Picture tool to compare how fast the shade structure vines have grown in three years

The report into the 10-year Darwin City Deal, signed off in late 2018, points to progress made on the “centrepiece” of the agreement – Charles Darwin University’s CBD campus.

Construction began on the $250m campus in October 2020 and is “on track to transform the city centre”, according to Federal Urban Infrastructure and Cities Minister Paul Fletcher.

Communication Minister Paul Fletcher ... the construction of the $250m CDU city campus is ‘on track to transform the city centre’. Picture: Gary Ramage

While the NT government is hitting the mark on portions of the City Deal, including Indigenous employment rates in projects linked to the masterplan, the report revealed it is failing to increase the population of Greater Darwin.

According to the report, the population growth rate target for the area is 1.4 per cent.

But measured against the baseline population of 148,564 in 2017/2018, the population of Greater Darwin has shrunk by 0.9 per cent.

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The shade structure on Cavenagh Street, which is part of the tri-government Darwin City Deal as a “trial” heat mitigation project, is also yet to be realised.

Built in November 2018, the vines of the shade structure were due to have grown to completely covered the arc by May last year at the very latest.

The NT Minister in charge of Darwin’s beleaguered shade structure admits the vines haven’t grown ‘as fast’ as she would’ve liked. Photograph: Che Chorley

Ms Lawler, speaking at the launch of the annual report last week, said she too had hoped the vines would grow very quickly.

“I would have done everything in my power to make sure they grew quickly, but the reality is they will continue to grow,” she said.

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“Have they grown as fast as I would have liked? Well obviously they haven’t but I’ll keep making sure that the people that are tending to those vines are doing a damn fine job to make sure that happens.”

Other targets set out in the City Deal, including increasing tourist visitation, have been hampered by the coronavirus pandemic.