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Volume 4, Thursday September 25th, 2008
Skateboarders Ignore Rules S
toreowners in the mall are becoming increasingly frustrated with skateboarders who use the mall as their own skate board park.
The issue is at its worst after school when skateboarders and to a lesser extent bike riders flood through the mall often in a reckless manner. The main concern for the shop owners are that sooner or later someone is going to be seriously injured. “We have had customers who have stepped out of the store and almost been knocked over by a cyclist or skateboarder,” said Jill Koning of Sports Power. Several shop owners commented on the danger created by the and their own feelings of defencelessness against rule breaking skaters and bike riders. The store owners have attempted to ignore the riders but their concerns are growing. “They are just going to flatten someone someday, and that’s all it will take,” said Denise Bell, “and we can’t do anything about it.” A secondary issue is the noise the skateboards create. “It’s (the noise) terrible, and it has gotten worse since the new tiles went in,” said Denise Bell of Sports Power. “It is so much louder now,” said Jill Koning. The Sports Power owners were strongly supported by other store owners who said the whole situation was “unacceptable,” and dangerous.” The signs at the entrances to the mall signs clearly state, No Skateboards, No Scooters, No Bikes and No Smoking, No Animals in the Mall. Shop owners expect as a Riding through the mall.
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common courtesy these rules will be followed, but are lost for what to do, Skateboarders and bike riders are not the only ones to flaunt the rules. The signs clearly say no dogs or smoking in the Mall, yet many adults continue to take dogs into the Centre and smoke without care and consideration of the rules or others. It is also poor role odelling for the riders who also ignore the rules. The Monitor spoke with Richard Stabile Property Manager on behalf of the owners of the Roxby Central complex. “We are also frustrated with the ongoing flaunting of the rules by the board and bike riders. We have placed signs at the entrances and expect people to do the right and safe thing. Its only commonsense to abide by the rules. “ “The next step is that we will have to consider putting security in the Mall in peak periods like after school and remove the rule breakers from the mall. We also have the right to ban offenders from the Mall. We would not want to take this action but may be left with no other option. The downside is that it creates an additional cost to the shop owners’ which in the end can only be passed on to customers, everybody loses” said Mr Stabile. Police cannot take direct action against anyone riding, skateboarding, and rollerblading through the Mall area as it is private property, , “We can only get them for not wearing a helmet,” said Sergeant Stuart Paxton.
Continues whose liable, consequences of not wearing a helmet, page 3
Skateboarding through the mall.
Political ping pong
ast week BHP Billiton released its annual report in the US, delivering the good news that it had increased the estimated ore reserves at its Olympic Dam project in Australia by 19 percent and was accompanied by a cautious announcement concerning the Olympic Dam expansion. The report instigated a game of political ping pong in the media between the Government, opposition and mining interest. BHP Billiton said in the report that Olympic Dam is a relatively complex ore body, so there remains uncertainty about the size, cost, timing and eventual configuration of the expansion project. The South Australian Liberal Party immediately drew on these facts and other reports, claiming BHP Billiton’s revision of the timetable and feasibility of the expansion of its Olympic Dam uranium and copper deposits is a wake up call for Premier Rann’s reliance on the project The Party also quoted a report last year from Merill Lynch & Co and JP Morgan Chase & Co that he forecast the development cost of Olympic Dam may rise threefold to as much as $15 billion. State Liberal Leader Martin Hamilton-Smith said the US an-
nouncement was both good and bad news for the State. “It’s clear that it will be a long and arduous process to realise the potential of Olympic Dam’s expanded reserves,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said. “Unfortunately, Mr Rann had been banking on the expansion getting underway by last year in his ongoing spruiking of a mining boom. “He’s taken his eye off the local economy’s strengths and gambled on a mining boom that now looks further away than anticipated.” Mr. Rann responded during the opening of the Terramin Zinc Mine saying he expected 10,000 people to be working at Olympic Dam after the proposed expansion. BHP is still preparing an environmental impact statement for the expansion, which is touted to boost copper production from approximately 180,000 tons a year to 730,000 tons. Uranium production is expected to be 15,000 tons each year, possibly more. Mr. Rann said South Australia’s mining boom was taking longer to get off the ground than developments in Western Australia and Queensland because previous governments were “not hungry enough”. “There’s no one sensible that is talking this down,” he said
“I don’t believe that BHP, the world’s biggest mining company, bought the worlds’ biggest resource to leave it as some kind of car park. “Of course there are challenges in developing the world’s biggest mine. “Will it go ahead? I’m absolutely certain it will.” The South Australia Chamber of Mines and Energy echoed Mr. Rann’s statement. “BHP Billiton will not sit on their hands with Olympic Dam,” said Chamber Chief Executive Officer Jason Kuchel. “The question will be just how they go about developing it and that’s a question which we won’t know until they’re ready to announce what they’re doing, but to suggest they might sit on their hands and do nothing with it would be folly,” When asked by The Monitor about the uncertainty created by the Opposition over the report, a BHP spokesman said, “The comments are consistent with previous public information BHP Billiton has provided about how the Olympic Dam Expansion project is being undertaken.” BHP Billiton also reconfirmed that the Environment Impact Statement would be released early in 2009.