Lords Place pot plants to be redesigned by Orange primary schools

STORY UPDATE: Redesign on hold as rescission motion confirmed

Debate over possible demolition of the controversial $1.58 million overhaul has meanwhile been put on ice after an impassioned stand off in the Orange City Council chamber.

The white plastic pots will be embellished by primary school students as part of an Orange-wide "design challenge." Contribution from Indigenous artists is also sought.

Artwork will be printed on vinyl wraps and transferred to the 23 pots in situ. Total cost to ratepayers is estimated at about $2000.

Councillors were split on the proposal. Approval was greenlit after a deadlocked 5-5 vote was broken by acting Mayor Gerald Power.

"Despite attempts to hijack the motion and make it about other things, this is about making the area somewhere that ... people want to go and hang out," Cr Mel McDonell, who proposed the move, said.

"The speed limit there is going to drop down to 40 kilometres per hour very soon ... so we want people to hang out there."

An amendment brought by Cr Jeff Whitton to debate removing installations was killed off by acting Mayor Power, who ruled it was not relevant to the discussion.

""I can move an amendment ... can you quote me under the act why you're refusing my ability to raise an amendment?" Cr Whitton said. It will now likely be rescheduled for the next meeting on October 3, 2023.

Councillors Mel McDonell, David Mallard, Glenn Floyd, Jack Evans and Gerald Power voted to have the pots painted. Councillors Jeff Whitton, Kevin Duffy, Seve Peterson, Frances Kinghorne and Tony Mileto opposed.

Supporters primarily said the struggling strip is in need of vibrancy to attract more residents. Opponents said it will look visually unappealing and represents an unwise expense if the street's future is not yet known.

Cr Frances Kinghorne said: "I appreciate the sentiment ... there has been a lot of unhappiness with [Lords Place] so I can see where this is coming from. Who doesn't love kids art, it's great.

"However, I just think that art would be better showcased against a background that's not the psychedelic swirly bits there .... I just think it will just cause visual discord and it'll just be confusing."

Cr Kevin Duffy said: "It's not a playground ... We had someone run over the other day in Lords Place. Is it going to be a playground where kids are going to run and hide? It's not Disneyland even though it may look like Disneyland.

"It's another waste of money like the Golden Balls, the Dancing Bees, and the alleyway. It's as simple as that. It's a waste of ratepayers money."

Cr David Mallard said: "I think we can go ahead with starting to do planning and work on this ... I think there are definitely things we are going to look at needing to modify where the implementation hasn't been great.

"I don't think the aesthetics of the painting on the ground has worked in the way it was intended to work. I think there's issues with that. I think there's issues with particular dining decks.

"At the same time. I think the principle of what we're doing with our streetscapes and beginning with this block in making them places that are more inviting for people [is good.]

"We're just getting into Spring and we're gonna see people making more use of the available space and narrowing the space so it's not just all about cars, but it's actually about making streets places people will come and spend time."

Cr Glenn Floyd, who supports demolition of the site, said: "I have got a page to talk about here that was on a completely different subject that I can't touch on now, but I can certainly touch on some things in relevance.

"I personally think that brightening up that area is what is needed down there. I think it looks dull and dreary. As a couple of people said to me the other day when I was going through there ... it just looks tacky."

Cr Jeff Whitton said: "It would be a bit hypocritical of me to support this ... not one business asked for that change in Lords Place.

"The staff reported and gave options to this chamber that if it failed, which it has. It has failed big time. The community don't want it ... Under that report there was an option to have removal."

Works have proven controversial since beginning on October 20, 2022. Many business owners told the Central Western Daily at the time further consultation had been promised prior to tree removals.

Management for 16 establishments signed an open-letter at the time outlining intent to stand against the development.

In August it emerged the project has blown over budget by about $180,000. Total cost is now estimated at about $1,580,000.

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