Alice Springs news
Alice Springs news; NewspaperNT
1999-12-15
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
This publication contains many links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspspers; Australia, Central; Alice Springs (N.T.); Newspapers
Erwin Chlanda
Alice Springs
v. 6 issue 46
application/pdf
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
Erwin Chlanda
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/231573
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/667017
American made electrodialysis plant, one of only two large EDR plants in the southern hemisphere. It can produce up to 35,000 litres of drinking water an hour. The resort's pleasant parks and gardens, lush lawns and towering trees come courtesy of the waste water treatment plant: because waste water is recycled, an appealing urban landscape can be created without penalty to the environment. Sewerage is pumped to the treatment plant one kilometre west of the resort. There the sewerage progresses through a grit chamber, an aerated holding tank, two activated sludge tanks, clarifier tanks and sludge drying bays, and finally, holding lagoons for chlorinated reclaimed water. The plant can handle up to 2500 cubic metres a day, the quantity generated by 8000 people, but the plant operates equally efficiently at lower loads. Ultimately, it will supply 900,000 litres a year. Meanwhile in Alice Springs, says Mr Krohn, PAWA is "in the final stages of completing a major study into water use and reuse, which includes consideration of options to maximise use of treated waste water". FRONTIER GONE: CENTRE NEEDS A FRESH IMAGE! KIERAN FINNANE reports. The worst a traveller can expect in a visit to the Northern Territory are the bushflies of the Centre, according to Lonely Planet's recently released updated travel guide to the region. For local residents, it is interesting to look at how the guide's authors, David Andrew (a former research assistant at Kakadu National Park) and Hugh Findlay, see the Centre and represent it to their many readers, who in turn use it to shape their experience when they come here. It is also interesting to see how the Centre compares to the rest of the Territory, in the guide's view. Other Territory frustrations the guide mentions include not being able to swim in the Top End, the long distances between stops - which can't be helped but, says the guide, is made worse by the "execrable" food at roadhouses - and the expense of commodities and accommodation. On the last point the guide says: "To pay through the nose for ordinary and dilapidated budget' accommodation - as you do at big attractions such as Uluru and Cooinda - smacks of exploitation." The guide also has a go at the NT Government's five per cent "bed tax" - "as if the cost of a motel room isn't high enough already!" The best in a Territory visit is, not surprisingly, "the wealth of natural attractions which rival anything else in Australia". Uluru, as an Australian icon, heads Lonely Planet's list, followed by Kakadu, Litchfield National Park, Katherine Gorge and Kings Canyon. Rainbow Valley to the south of Alice Springs gets a mention as a less visited national park. The Western MacDonnell National Park, however, doesn't rate in this introductory list (although, like the others, it gets its own section later in the guide). The Territory is where visitors will find Aboriginal culture at "its most accessible", says the guide, emphasising Aboriginal owned and run tours. The relics of early European settlement "leave a strong impression", among them the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. Next on the best list is the wildlife, again some of the "most accessible" in Australia. Alice Springs gets 22 pages devoted to its history and attractions, compared to 27 for Darwin. There are also separate sections on the surrounding areas: north - including the stops along the Stuart Highway, the Tanami track, Plenty Highway and Sandover Highway - gets 12 pages; the MacDonnell and James Ranges get 23 pages; the south-east - including Ewanginga, Chamber's Pillar and the stops along the Stuart Highway gets four pages. Alice is introduced as Australia's biggest and most isolated outback town. But, says the guide, "outwardly it has little of the frontier atmosphere which many people expect to find". "With the tourist boom of the last decade, most of the old buildings have made way for shopping plazas, hotels and offices, and the new sprawling suburbs are as unappealing as those in any Australian city." The plus side is that the outback is only "a stone's throw away", with many of the country's "most spectacular natural wonders". The town is also credited with a "unique atmosphere", although it is not immediately clear what sort of atmosphere this is. The guide does recommend staying "a few days" in Alice to seek out the reminders of the Centre's pioneering past, such as the Royal Flying Doctor Base. There follow the expected listings without much qualitative assessment. Panorama Guth is a notable exception: according to the guide, it's "an exercise in high kitsch, really, although it has a saccharine charm". The Aviation Museum is described as "interesting"; the Museum of Central Australia as having "a fascinating collection"; while the main interest to visitors of the Araluen Centre is seen to be the Albert Namatjira Collection. The Desert Park is described as "superb", its nocturnal house as "brilliant". Special Events are listed chronologically, from Heritage Week in April, to the Corkwood Festival in November. It is noteworthy that in the arts category only the Alice Craft Acquisition rates a mention; nothing on the Alice Prize, let alone the Desert Mob show; and given this, needless to say there was no mention of Watch This Space. Indeed, non-Indigenous fine art does not get a look in. Aboriginal art is given an appropriate prominence, but it is a little surprising to find under the heading "White Australian Art" in an introductory chapter on the NT, a discussion of the Heidelberg School, and national artists from Sidney Nolan to Brett Whiteley! Discussions of literature and music are similarly limited, lacking up to date information as well as a sufficiently specific Territory focus. If one assumes that the guide authors work harder to inform themselves than most