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“I’m p*ssed off”: Lords Place set to flare again at Tuesday’s Orange City Council meeting
November 3, 2023
By Peter Holmes
If you thought the interminable Lords Place saga was done and dusted at the last Orange City Council (OCC) meeting on October 17, 2023 - when councillors voted that Lords Place “be reinstated to its original state” - you would be very, very wrong.
The future of Lords Place now lies in a grey zone.
It will be undone. But not really. Well, sort of. In a way.
How undone? Nobody seems to know.For example, you can’t replant the trees that were chopped down late one evening in October 2022.
You could rip up the replacement trees, but then there’d be no trees, other than the ones standing guard at each entrance to that part of Lords Place. The ones that weren’t chopped down originally.
The $1.58 million Lords Place redevelopment has faced criticism from a plethora of angles. Some say it’s aesthetically offensive. Others say it’s unsafe and unnecessary.
The most common gripe throughout the whole affair, however, has been the reduction in car parking spaces from 67 to 44, and the change in parking times from 30 and 60 minutes to 15 and 30 minutes. The latter has since been reversed after it became evident that you can’t really get a haircut, sit down and have a coffee, see a physio or meet with a real estate agent in 900 seconds.
In the successful motion on October 17, it was stated that the “reinstatement process ecampasses the recovery of the 20 car spaces lost due to the recent modifications”.
But in a letter to businesses OCC staff have said that only seven of the missing 23 spaces will be returned, leaving a shortfall of 16.
One business owner told The Orange News Examiner on Friday that they weren’t at all happy that only seven spots would be returned. The problem now, they said, was that to get the street back to even close to what it was, you’d have to not only remove the dining pods, but refashion and/or remove some of the garden beds.
Here’s where it gets complicated. When you study the motion, it appears as if there are competing interests at play.
For while the motion states that OCC staff would present to councillors “an agreed upon restoration plan co-developed with the impacted businesses in Lords Place”, it also promises to return the lost parking spots.
But if Crema, Good Eddy and Nimrod cafes choose to keep the dining pods in a trial period over summer (and possibly beyond), there won’t be room to return all the parking spaces.
Councillor Kevin Duffy told The Orange News Examiner he was “pissed off” with the return of only seven parking spaces, and would be raising the issue on Tuesday night.
“The resolution is that they remove everything except the trees and reinstate the car parks,” he said.
“The staff can do what they like, but as far as I’m concerned they have to follow the decision of the council, they can’t change it to what they want.”
Councillor Jack Evans said that “some businesses want to give [the dining pods] a go”, which was one of the reasons parking couldn’t be returned to what it was.
“We’re trying to cater to everyone,” he said.
At the October 17 meeting Evans had backed a motion for a working committee to be formed to formulate a Lords Place extraction plan, however it was defeated.
“Perhaps collaborative dialogue might’ve been effective,” he said.
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During the day Orange's Bowen Community Technology Centre offers a free service to those who mightn't have a computer, printer or internet access. They might help with a resume, or to contact a government agency. In the afternoon dozens of primary school kids descend on the centre to get stuck into their homework.
They also may not have access to technology at home. Education is crucial in preparing the next generation to face the modern world. Orange City Council kindly donates the building. The woman behind this valuable community service is Paula Townsend. When there is enough money in the kitty, she is paid minimum wage. When there is not, she pays herself nothing.
But she always turns up. Even in school holidays, just to make sure the kids stay on the straight and narrow and have somewhere to go. The stress of running a community centre on occasional grants and donations - mostly for equipment , office supplies and insurances, not a minimum wage - is considerable.
Paula has been doing this for years. The bucket has a hole in it and there is never enough water to fill it up. She is no pushover - these computers are for work, not games - but when you spend time at the centre, you see the love the kids have for her, and she for them.
When adults have access to computers, documents and printers - something many of us take for granted - their worlds can open up. When kids can learn and get their homework done, their worlds open up too.
If you or your business are willing to help Paula Townsend, please click on the link above.
- Peter Holmes,
Editor, The Orange News Examiner
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