History

Elec­tions for mem­bers of the sec­ond Coun­cil were held on 1 June 1974. Bri­an Mar­tin was re-elect­ed as Mayor.

Elect­ed Members

• John Jenk­ins
• Dr Kendall McClelland
• Den­nis Haddon
• Alan Gray
• Daryl Homb­sch
• John Mar­riott
• Andrew McPhee
• Peter Leu­nig

Changes with­in Council

• 10 June, 1974: Coun­cil re-elect­ed Peter Leu­nig Deputy May­or for the cur­rent term of office
• 29 March, 1976: Deputy May­or Leu­nig resigned from this posi­tion but con­tin­ued as an Alder­man. Alder­man Den­nis Had­don was appoint­ed Deputy Mayor
• Res­ig­na­tion, 12 April, 1976: May­or Bri­an Mar­tin. Coun­cil appoint­ed Den­nis Had­don Act­ing Mayor
• Res­ig­na­tion, 12 April, 1976: Alder­man Peter Leu­nig resigned for per­son­al rea­sons, and
• By-elec­tion, 29 May, 1976: Mr Tony Greatorex was elect­ed May­or. In a four-way con­test to fill the vacant posi­tion of Alder­man, Lui­gi (Gino) Mar­in­uc­ci was the suc­cess­ful candidate.

1974 – 1975

There had, since 1954, been a town swim­ming pool in Rail­way Ter­race built by C. H. ​“Pop” Chap­man, founder of the Cen­tralian Advo­cate. This pool closed in ear­ly 1972.The town need­ed a new swim­ming pool. In fact it need­ed a com­plete swim­ming com­plex. Such a com­plex, the Alice Springs Swim­ming Cen­tre, was com­plet­ed in August, 1974, and was offi­cial­ly opened on 5 Octo­ber, 1974.Cyclone Tra­cy dev­as­tat­ed Dar­win on Christ­mas day 1974. A Dar­win Relief Appeal was imme­di­ate­ly estab­lished and a relief cen­tre was set up.Council’s Depot staff were able to assist by deliv­er­ing goods bound for Dar­win to the Alice Springs airport.

Coun­cil wrote to the Min­is­ter for the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry con­cern­ing the Town Plan­ner and Admin­is­tra­tive Officer.After Cyclone Tra­cy they were evac­u­at­ed from Dar­win to Alice Springs and then on to Brisbane.This delayed the issu­ing of Build­ing Per­mits. Their pres­ence in Alice Springs would also have been of con­sid­er­able assis­tance to all who had queries con­cern­ing the new Town Plan for Alice Springs.

1975 – 1976

A num­ber of con­tracts were let in ear­ly 1976, includ­ing for the erec­tion of dress­ing sheds at Ross Park, the con­struc­tion of con­crete mod­ules and fenc­ing at the ceme­tery on the South Stu­art High­way, and con­struc­tion of four net­ball courts at Ross Park.

Stage 2B of the Race­course sub­di­vi­sion was accept­ed by Coun​cil​.In anoth­er part of town the Coun­cil was con­cerned that the Sturt Bean Tree on the cor­ner of Leich­hardt and Stott Ter­races might be under threat from a pro­pos­al to widen Stott Terrace.The mat­ter was to be tak­en up with the Parks and Gar­dens Com­mit­tee with the object of sav­ing the Bean Tree. The tree was saved.

In May, 1976, Tony Greatorex was elect­ed by an over­whelm­ing major­i­ty as May­or to replace Bri­an Mar­tin. Like Jock Nel­son, Greatorex had par­lia­men­tary experience.Elected to the Leg­isla­tive Coun­cil as the Mem­ber for Stu­art in 1965, he was elect­ed as Pres­i­dent in 1969 and remained in that posi­tion for five years.

In 1976 Bri­an Mar­tin moved to Dar­win. In late 1980 he became NT Solic­i­tor Gen​er​al​.In 1987 he was appoint­ed a Judge of the Supreme Court and in March 1993 he became Chief Jus­tice of the North­ern Ter­ri­to­ry Supreme Court.

Coun­cil raised objec­tions to the pro­posed Sadadeen sub­di­vi­sion, includ­ing, the small size of some of the blocks, access for Coun­cil ser­vices would be dif­fi­cult in some cas­es, and the num­ber of bat­tle-axe blocks.

1976 – 1977

Mr J. Reeves, Vice Pres­i­dent of the Cen­tral Aus­tralian Con­ser­va­tion Coun­cil, pre­sent­ed a peti­tion oppos­ing the destruc­tion of the white cedar trees lin­ing the streets of Alice Springs.

The peti­tion was sup­port­ed by one hun­dred and two signatures.

Coun­cil decid­ed to remove the cedar trees after look­ing into the mat­ter fur­ther and receiv­ing advice that the cedars were unsuit­a­blestreet trees.

Plant­i­ng of trees in Hart­ley Street was com­menced in Octo­ber 1976.

Coun­cil gave P. Blash­ki and Sons the go ahead to pro­ceed with the craft­ing of a May­oral Chain based on a design that they had provided.

Ear­ly in 1977, Coun­cil mem­bers agreed that there was a need for two addi­tion­al Aldermen.

Up until May, 1977, there were only eight Aldermen.

At the ordi­nary Elec­tion held in May 1977, ten Alder­men were elected.

The devel­op­ment of Ross Park Stage 1, began in March 1976 and was com­plet­ed in April, 1977.

The devel­op­ment com­prised two soc­cer pitch­es to inter­na­tion­al dimen­sions, four net­ball courts, an ath­let­ics field, change rooms, toi­let block, and an access road and car park.

The bas­ket­ball, ten­nis, and sideshow area at the north­ern end of Traeger Park was upgrad­ed in ear­ly 1977.