September 2, 2024 • 11 mins
News from around the Nation that the scooter and e-bike company which manages our scooters here in Darwin is in hot water in other parts of Australia.
City of Darwin is seeking input into the design of a new inclusive and accessible recreation space in the Waters Ward that will cater to the diverse needs of our community and transform our suburbs.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bit of news from around the nation that the scooter
and e byte company which manages our scooters here in Darwin,
is it a bit of a precarious situation in some
other parts of Australia. So the Brisbane City Council has
canceled its contract with e scooter company Beam after a
tip from a whistleblower suggesting that it had significantly under
(00:20):
reported the size of its fleet. So that council in
Brisbane is going to refer the Singapore firm to Australia's
corporate watchdog and potentially police. Is what's being reported, alleging
that the company owes three hundred and thirty thousand dollars
in unpaid fees and exceeded safety caps while by nearly
a third in the twelve months to July. Now joining
(00:43):
me in the studio right now is the CEO of
the City of Darwin, Simone Saunders.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Good morning to you, Simone morning, Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Good to have you on the show. Now, what does
this situation that's obviously occurred in Brisbane does it have
any flow on effect for us here.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
In the Northern Territory.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Look, the operator environment and our contract with Beam is
different to the contracts that they do have in Brisbane,
and we've also seen Auckland Council also council beams contract recently,
so it's a different operating environments. So in our contract
we don't pay a per unit fee to Beam so
of how many units that they have.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But the reports that they've under reported the.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Amount of scooters that they have on the streets is
really concerning for City of Darwin because it can have
safety implications. But the data that they're talking about is
in this ride Report, which is an app that we
don't also use in Darwin. We have a different visibility
method here with our it's under a place intelligence so
(01:43):
we can see how many units are here. And City
of Darwin's not remunerated either by unit, and the reason
for that is we've got, you know, our seasonality here
means that we want more scooters in the dry season
and less over the wet season, so we get remunerated
differently in Darwen and it's not scooted basis, so there's
no revenue potential for revenue loss. But we are meeting
(02:06):
with Beam later this week to talk about the reported
and alleged and ethical behavior because it's really concerning if
if they're operating not in accordance with the integrity and
honesty and transparency, it could have other other ramifications. So
we'll be asking them for some additional data so that
we can make sure that that we're comfortable with everything
(02:28):
that we're seeing in our place intelligence system, and they're
also doing appointed independent auditors to look at their systems.
Once we've got that, we'll pass that information back to
Council and then elected members can make a decision on
anything that they would like to see going forward. But
at this stage everything everything that we've seen, we're happy
with the number of scooters that we have on the
street from our place intelligence data and that there's no
(02:50):
revenue loss.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And so by the sounds of it, the City of
Darwin's actually able to see just how many scooters and
bikes are out there on the streets. So I guess
our footprint would be quite small compared arrative lead to
some of those other locations I Brisbane and the number
of scooters and d bikes that they've got operating, yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Think so, like, yeah, we've got less less scooters.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Obviously they're operating in dah and the sprawl that we
have of those scooters, they're not clustered as much as
they are in the cities, but it does have the
implication that we know that if they were operating over
the caps. You know, we're certain areas we only want
so many scooters moving around the city and at certain
times of the year. So it is something absolutely going
(03:30):
to be having a look at. And the behavior and
the alleged behavior is extremely concerning.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah right, all right, So by the look of it,
well by the sounds of it, it's certainly not something
that you're just going to be ignoring. You're going to
be taking a really close look at it to make
sure that everything is operating as it should be.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
For Dawa, absolutely, I mean this is yeah, this is
a community you know, a contract that we have with Beam,
and we expect certain levels of standard from all our
service providers, and we'll make sure that that's actually happening
on behalf of the community.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah. Hey, yesterday the City of issue to press release
saying that you're seeking input into the design of a
new inclusive and accessible recreation space in the waters Ward.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Where exactly is this?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So we're seeking an engagement open yesterday on a new
multi generational recreation space in waters Ward and it's just
behind Malac Oval. Any parents that have traveled out there
for soccer on a Friday night or a Saturday you
know where where help? And there's green space that sits
behind the oval and there's also a ninja playground course
(04:33):
there as well near the community center. So where we're
seeking the next regional playground the City of Darwin does
elected members have decided that we'll be in the waters
Ward area and.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Whilst we've earmarked a.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Laka is a great location because there's the community center,
we've got the oval there. At the moment, we really
want the community to give us their feedback and say, hey,
what would you like to see you know, term vision
and longer term vision for the next multi generational.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Play space out there.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
But more broadly is do you like the idea that
it's going to potentially be in Malac. This could involve
also more parking in the area, lighting paths and everything
else that supports our you know, our big regional playgrounds.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Soond is this the same area where people a bit
worried that car parking space is being taken away?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So there's no car parking that's been taken away there.
But what we do see is that especially when we
do have the soccer games there and the juniors, we
don't have enough parking in the area when the games
are all clustered at a certain at a certain time.
So I think it's a great opportunity for anybody to
give us the feedback. I mean, if it's more parking
that we need there, because we've got more people in
(05:45):
there activating the area perfect and we just want want
some more feedback about it. But I mean for anybody
that maybe is doing a Friday night game there, is
it the opportunity to have a big regional playground next
next door for your kids to play out, you know,
have a more activated area. There'll be toilet facilities and
shade and lighting as well that will come as a
result of it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
And so people can just jump online head to the
City of Double website if they want to provide some
feedback on that one.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, correct, on the engage page. They can provide the feedback.
The feedback there And we've also got two pop ups,
so there'll be a pop up on Saturday the fourteenth
at Malac Marketplace and then on Saturday the twenty first
of September at North Lake Shopping Center, so you can
come and give your feedback directly. Also, there's a great
drawing competition, so for anybody that wants something to do
(06:31):
over the school holidays, drop into the library and the
kids can get a piece of paper of the area
and they can draw what they'd like to see in
the next multi generational recreation space. And the reason the counselor,
Kim Farra bought this forward as a notice of motion
over twelve months ago that this was the ideal place
(06:52):
for the next next playground. And part of her reasoning
is that she wants to see a place where grandparents
can take the you know.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
The gids, teenagers can go.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So we really want it to be, you know, a
multi generational recreation space.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Okay, well, good stuff. Hopefully you get some good feedback
on that. I'm sure you will. Now, it was reported
last week that City of Darwin Council had extended its
ban on former Lions Ward councilor Amy Orn for another year. Now.
I understand that she was issued with that trespast night
in August last year, banning her from entering the council
buildings and facilities for twelve months, but she then resigned
(07:28):
from her position as counselor as part of her candidacy
before the Northern Territory election. But my understanding is that
she will be able to obviously step back into that
councilor role once the once all of the ballot papers
accounted and the declarations are made early next week.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
What is the current situation.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, so Amyorn's not currently a counselor, as you said,
because she did resign just for the purpose of contesting
the Northern Territory election. So after the declarations are made,
she can reapply to council and the processes that she's
reinstated as elected member as part of that, but the
trespass on council has been extended for what's been issued
(08:11):
for another twelve months.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
She can do all her civic duties.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Though, attend meetings via online and everything that she needs
to be a councilor is facilitated by the City of Darwin.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
What happens with Brian o'gallaghan now that he's been elected
to the seat of Karama and was obviously a councilor,
so is there going to be a by election?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
So with there's different timeframes depending if you're inside six
months to the local government election, then there's there's different
different requirements. But City of Darlin's currently working with the
Local Government Department on what will happen after the declaration
in relation to Council Brian A. Gallagher and we'll work
through that process and we'll come out with some decision
(08:56):
in a few weeks time, so it will go to
council and then Council will advance what we'll do in
that in that space.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, so we should know over the next few weeks or.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, there'll be We have a council meeting on the
twenty fourth of September and after that we'll have some
clarity on exactly what elective members would like to do
in that regard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
So own a couple of listener questions. Somebody's been in
contact to ask about the parking outside Thrab we're on
that street and asking if there are car parks, if
the number of car parks are being reduced.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So as part of the engagement on Smith Street, we
got some feedback from the community and the community did
say that they preferenced having biplanes and more greening where possible.
So there is a loss of some car spaces as
a result of the redesign of Smith Street to make
it more pedestrian friendly. What we're making sure though is
(09:48):
that there's still access and inclusion for you know, and
disability parking available and there will still be parking in
the vicinity. I'm not sure exactly exactly those spaces, but
we can get back to that listener run with the
final design which which is which is out, so we
can convide advise your listener.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, I think they're keen to know sort of how
many parks we're going to be lost on that whole street,
if the if there is a number on that, I'm
sure that they'd be happy to try and find out.
The other one was actually around motorbikes and questioning whether
there are sufficient or whether they are insufficient motorcycle parking
spaces across the Darwin City. There's like they're sort of questioning,
(10:29):
we'll Bill's questioning, where can a motorcycle park legally for
free if there's no available allocated bike spaces?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Do you know? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So so the allocated bike spaces we did put some
more in recently on Cavanar Street as a result of
Cavanar Street works, and there is motorcycle parking down that street,
but the same as the same as a car park.
If you can't find one in the Zone A area,
you still need to park legally and you need to
move out to the Zone B in the Zone C
(10:58):
parking or street parking.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Simone just somebody's just messaged through and said, Hi, Katie,
why has Amiun's tresspass been extended for a further twelve months?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yep, So her trespass has been extended. She has seventeen
Code of Conduct breaches and they're in the public domain
and as part of the media release, she hasn't undertaken
any of her training or issued any of the apologies.
And some of those claims in there or the actual
Code Conduct breaches included bullying and harassment, but the trespass
(11:30):
sits as aside to that, and it's been been put
in place for the health, safety and well being of
City of du and staff and that will remain for
twelve months.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, Simone Saunders, the CEO of the City of del
we are going to have to leave it there. Good
to catch up with you as always, Thank you very
much for your time.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Great thank you
Bit of news from around the nation that the scooter
and e byte company which manages our scooters here in Darwin,
is it a bit of a precarious situation in some
other parts of Australia. So the Brisbane City Council has
canceled its contract with e scooter company Beam after a
tip from a whistleblower suggesting that it had significantly under
(00:20):
reported the size of its fleet. So that council in
Brisbane is going to refer the Singapore firm to Australia's
corporate watchdog and potentially police. Is what's being reported, alleging
that the company owes three hundred and thirty thousand dollars
in unpaid fees and exceeded safety caps while by nearly
a third in the twelve months to July. Now joining
(00:43):
me in the studio right now is the CEO of
the City of Darwin, Simone Saunders.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Good morning to you, Simone morning, Katie.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Good to have you on the show. Now, what does
this situation that's obviously occurred in Brisbane does it have
any flow on effect for us here.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
In the Northern Territory.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Look, the operator environment and our contract with Beam is
different to the contracts that they do have in Brisbane,
and we've also seen Auckland Council also council beams contract recently,
so it's a different operating environments. So in our contract
we don't pay a per unit fee to Beam so
of how many units that they have.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
But the reports that they've under reported the.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Amount of scooters that they have on the streets is
really concerning for City of Darwin because it can have
safety implications. But the data that they're talking about is
in this ride Report, which is an app that we
don't also use in Darwin. We have a different visibility
method here with our it's under a place intelligence so
(01:43):
we can see how many units are here. And City
of Darwin's not remunerated either by unit, and the reason
for that is we've got, you know, our seasonality here
means that we want more scooters in the dry season
and less over the wet season, so we get remunerated
differently in Darwen and it's not scooted basis, so there's
no revenue potential for revenue loss. But we are meeting
(02:06):
with Beam later this week to talk about the reported
and alleged and ethical behavior because it's really concerning if
if they're operating not in accordance with the integrity and
honesty and transparency, it could have other other ramifications. So
we'll be asking them for some additional data so that
we can make sure that that we're comfortable with everything
(02:28):
that we're seeing in our place intelligence system, and they're
also doing appointed independent auditors to look at their systems.
Once we've got that, we'll pass that information back to
Council and then elected members can make a decision on
anything that they would like to see going forward. But
at this stage everything everything that we've seen, we're happy
with the number of scooters that we have on the
street from our place intelligence data and that there's no
(02:50):
revenue loss.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And so by the sounds of it, the City of
Darwin's actually able to see just how many scooters and
bikes are out there on the streets. So I guess
our footprint would be quite small compared arrative lead to
some of those other locations I Brisbane and the number
of scooters and d bikes that they've got operating, yeah, I.
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Think so, like, yeah, we've got less less scooters.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Obviously they're operating in dah and the sprawl that we
have of those scooters, they're not clustered as much as
they are in the cities, but it does have the
implication that we know that if they were operating over
the caps. You know, we're certain areas we only want
so many scooters moving around the city and at certain
times of the year. So it is something absolutely going
(03:30):
to be having a look at. And the behavior and
the alleged behavior is extremely concerning.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah right, all right, So by the look of it,
well by the sounds of it, it's certainly not something
that you're just going to be ignoring. You're going to
be taking a really close look at it to make
sure that everything is operating as it should be.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
For Dawa, absolutely, I mean this is yeah, this is
a community you know, a contract that we have with Beam,
and we expect certain levels of standard from all our
service providers, and we'll make sure that that's actually happening
on behalf of the community.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
Yeah. Hey, yesterday the City of issue to press release
saying that you're seeking input into the design of a
new inclusive and accessible recreation space in the waters Ward.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Where exactly is this?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
So we're seeking an engagement open yesterday on a new
multi generational recreation space in waters Ward and it's just
behind Malac Oval. Any parents that have traveled out there
for soccer on a Friday night or a Saturday you
know where where help? And there's green space that sits
behind the oval and there's also a ninja playground course
(04:33):
there as well near the community center. So where we're
seeking the next regional playground the City of Darwin does
elected members have decided that we'll be in the waters
Ward area and.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Whilst we've earmarked a.
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Laka is a great location because there's the community center,
we've got the oval there. At the moment, we really
want the community to give us their feedback and say, hey,
what would you like to see you know, term vision
and longer term vision for the next multi generational.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Play space out there.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
But more broadly is do you like the idea that
it's going to potentially be in Malac. This could involve
also more parking in the area, lighting paths and everything
else that supports our you know, our big regional playgrounds.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Soond is this the same area where people a bit
worried that car parking space is being taken away?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Correct?
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So there's no car parking that's been taken away there.
But what we do see is that especially when we
do have the soccer games there and the juniors, we
don't have enough parking in the area when the games
are all clustered at a certain at a certain time.
So I think it's a great opportunity for anybody to
give us the feedback. I mean, if it's more parking
that we need there, because we've got more people in
(05:45):
there activating the area perfect and we just want want
some more feedback about it. But I mean for anybody
that maybe is doing a Friday night game there, is
it the opportunity to have a big regional playground next
next door for your kids to play out, you know,
have a more activated area. There'll be toilet facilities and
shade and lighting as well that will come as a
result of it.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
And so people can just jump online head to the
City of Double website if they want to provide some
feedback on that one.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Yeah, correct, on the engage page. They can provide the feedback.
The feedback there And we've also got two pop ups,
so there'll be a pop up on Saturday the fourteenth
at Malac Marketplace and then on Saturday the twenty first
of September at North Lake Shopping Center, so you can
come and give your feedback directly. Also, there's a great
drawing competition, so for anybody that wants something to do
(06:31):
over the school holidays, drop into the library and the
kids can get a piece of paper of the area
and they can draw what they'd like to see in
the next multi generational recreation space. And the reason the counselor,
Kim Farra bought this forward as a notice of motion
over twelve months ago that this was the ideal place
(06:52):
for the next next playground. And part of her reasoning
is that she wants to see a place where grandparents
can take the you know.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
The gids, teenagers can go.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So we really want it to be, you know, a
multi generational recreation space.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Okay, well, good stuff. Hopefully you get some good feedback
on that. I'm sure you will. Now, it was reported
last week that City of Darwin Council had extended its
ban on former Lions Ward councilor Amy Orn for another year. Now.
I understand that she was issued with that trespast night
in August last year, banning her from entering the council
buildings and facilities for twelve months, but she then resigned
(07:28):
from her position as counselor as part of her candidacy
before the Northern Territory election. But my understanding is that
she will be able to obviously step back into that
councilor role once the once all of the ballot papers
accounted and the declarations are made early next week.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
What is the current situation.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, so Amyorn's not currently a counselor, as you said,
because she did resign just for the purpose of contesting
the Northern Territory election. So after the declarations are made,
she can reapply to council and the processes that she's
reinstated as elected member as part of that, but the
trespass on council has been extended for what's been issued
(08:11):
for another twelve months.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
She can do all her civic duties.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
Though, attend meetings via online and everything that she needs
to be a councilor is facilitated by the City of Darwin.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
What happens with Brian o'gallaghan now that he's been elected
to the seat of Karama and was obviously a councilor,
so is there going to be a by election?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
So with there's different timeframes depending if you're inside six
months to the local government election, then there's there's different
different requirements. But City of Darlin's currently working with the
Local Government Department on what will happen after the declaration
in relation to Council Brian A. Gallagher and we'll work
through that process and we'll come out with some decision
(08:56):
in a few weeks time, so it will go to
council and then Council will advance what we'll do in
that in that space.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, so we should know over the next few weeks or.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, there'll be We have a council meeting on the
twenty fourth of September and after that we'll have some
clarity on exactly what elective members would like to do
in that regard.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
So own a couple of listener questions. Somebody's been in
contact to ask about the parking outside Thrab we're on
that street and asking if there are car parks, if
the number of car parks are being reduced.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
So as part of the engagement on Smith Street, we
got some feedback from the community and the community did
say that they preferenced having biplanes and more greening where possible.
So there is a loss of some car spaces as
a result of the redesign of Smith Street to make
it more pedestrian friendly. What we're making sure though is
(09:48):
that there's still access and inclusion for you know, and
disability parking available and there will still be parking in
the vicinity. I'm not sure exactly exactly those spaces, but
we can get back to that listener run with the
final design which which is which is out, so we
can convide advise your listener.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, I think they're keen to know sort of how
many parks we're going to be lost on that whole street,
if the if there is a number on that, I'm
sure that they'd be happy to try and find out.
The other one was actually around motorbikes and questioning whether
there are sufficient or whether they are insufficient motorcycle parking
spaces across the Darwin City. There's like they're sort of questioning,
(10:29):
we'll Bill's questioning, where can a motorcycle park legally for
free if there's no available allocated bike spaces?
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Do you know? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So so the allocated bike spaces we did put some
more in recently on Cavanar Street as a result of
Cavanar Street works, and there is motorcycle parking down that street,
but the same as the same as a car park.
If you can't find one in the Zone A area,
you still need to park legally and you need to
move out to the Zone B in the Zone C
(10:58):
parking or street parking.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Simone just somebody's just messaged through and said, Hi, Katie,
why has Amiun's tresspass been extended for a further twelve months?
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yep, So her trespass has been extended. She has seventeen
Code of Conduct breaches and they're in the public domain
and as part of the media release, she hasn't undertaken
any of her training or issued any of the apologies.
And some of those claims in there or the actual
Code Conduct breaches included bullying and harassment, but the trespass
(11:30):
sits as aside to that, and it's been been put
in place for the health, safety and well being of
City of du and staff and that will remain for
twelve months.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Well, Simone Saunders, the CEO of the City of del
we are going to have to leave it there. Good
to catch up with you as always, Thank you very
much for your time.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Great thank you
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