The Alice Springs Transformation Plan made progress this month on the rebuilding and refurbishing of town camp residences. This month two rebuild homes were completed and handed back to the residents. On Friday 4 June 2010 one rebuild house was handed back to its occupants in Trucking Yards town camp and on Tuesday 8 June 2010 a rebuild house was returned in Ilparpa town camp.
The rebuild process is designed to upgrade the facilities and services of residences to a standard that is acceptable in a normal suburban home. Major rebuild works include the replacement of roofing, new kitchens and bathrooms, new windows and the installation of solar hot water systems.
One of the rebuild homes that was completed this month in Ilparpa town camp.
A new kitchen in one of the rebuild houses.
This month the Aboriginal visitor accommodation site received an official indigenous name. ‘Apmere Mwerre’ (pron: Upmurra Moorra) means ‘good place’ in English and was selected by Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation. Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation represents the interests of the native title holders in Alice Springs.
Apmere Mwerre will provide accommodation for Aboriginal visitors to Alice Springs who can stay at the site for up to two weeks. Apmere Mwerre visitor park will assist in alleviating overcrowding in town camps. The facility will also contribute to the reduction of homelessness amongst those people who are living in Alice Springs temporarily.
Progress on the construction of the facility this month included the pouring of concrete slabs for ablution and cabin blocks and the compacting of the new road and carpark. Aboriginal Hostels Limited, the organisation that will be managing the site, has already received bookings for Apmere Mwerre. The bookings are an indication that the facility will be used regularly by Indigenous visitors to Alice Springs.
Since the release of the first new house built in an Alice Springs town camp on Friday 14 May 2010, seven new houses have been completed. Larapinta Valley, Hidden Valley, Little Sisters, Trucking Yards and Warlpiri town camps have all received new homes.
Civil and infrastructure works will soon begin in the town camps of Alice Springs. Plans have been proposed in consultation with town camp residents and other stakeholders. The town camps will receive varying degrees of civil and infrastructure upgrades depending on the individual needs of each community. Many roads are to be upgraded and created, and power, water, sewerage, drainage and street lighting will also be upgraded and installed.
Trucking Yards will be the first town camp to receive major civil and infrastructure upgrades and work will begin in the coming weeks. The civil and infrastructure works will play a large role in enabling town camp residents to access the same services that members of the wider Alice Springs community enjoy.
Left: The current road design and residential structure in Trucking Yards town camp.
Right: The proposed design of the roads and residential areas. The camp will receive major civil and infrastructure works in order for the proposed plan to become operational.