Scrap 'nightmare' city of Weddell, says Sawyer
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Darwin's Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer says the planned satellite city of Weddell is a nightmare and should not go ahead.
The Northern Territory Government is planning the new city of up to 50,000 people, 30 kilometres from Darwin.
Graeme Sawyer today told a meeting of capital city lord mayors about the Government's plans for Weddell.
Mr Sawyer says the Government should instead be "intensifying" housing in Darwin and Palmerston.
"Weddell is an absolute nightmare and shouldn't happen," he said.
"If you look at all of those criteria around public transport, around energy efficiency, around travel time, around all of those sorts of things, probably if you set up a matrix and ticked off those things against Weddell you probably wouldn't build it."
A spokesman for Lands and Planning Minister Gerry McCarthy says up to 73,000 more people are expected to live in Darwin and Palmerston by 2025.
He says the Mayor should explain how that many people will fit into Darwin and Palmerston.
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