Alice Springs council removes roadside memorial without consultation

Australia Broadcast Center

26-05-2025

The Alice Springs Town Council has apologised after a roadside memorial was destroyed without consultation with family and friends.
Alice Springs teen Alex Marchant-Powell died on May 31 last year when the car he was driving hit a tree on Bougainvillea Avenue in East Side.
The tree became a roadside memorial for friends and family to visit and pay their respects.
Several weeks ago mementos, flowers and fairy lights were removed without consultation, leaving those closest to him bereft.
His mother, Nicolle Marchant, said learning of the removal as the one-year anniversary of her son's death approached had caused her unbelievable pain.
"To lose your only child, your whole world, is the greatest heartache that anyone can go through," she said.
"And then to know that some heartless person or people have just gone and torn down memorabilia is beyond heartbreaking."
Ms Marchant said she did not want a similar thing to happen to anyone else in Alice Springs.
"For this to occur, this absolutely heartless act, is completely unnecessary," she said.
"There's so much sadness there, but there's so much love there.
"It's a place that they can go and just sit and be and remember Alex and all the love that he shared with everyone."
Alex Shaw said he often went to the tree to pay his respects to his lost mate.
"We don't have a grave or anything," Mr Shaw said.
"So this is the closest thing we have to it."
"We filled it with decorations.
"The base was covered in flowers and filled with valuable mementos and photos.
"A lot of the stuff were personal items of his that we took from his house and left it for him."
He said he was shocked by the removal.
"The whole year has been trying to keep the [memorial] alive, trying to keep it going especially for his mother."
Council director of technical services, Joel Andrew, said the council had provided an apology to Ms Marchant and to her son's friends.
"We've let them down … by not contacting them and trying to work through and find a solution to the concerns," he said.
Mr Andrew said there was a roadside memorial policy which dictated the size, shape and makeup of memorials.
"[Staff] said it was outside of the policy and removed it," Mr Andrew said.
He said at least two complaints had been received for Mr Marchant-Powell's memorial.
"I think it was an effect on the nearby residents and also the distraction towards drivers [as it] was quite lit up at night with fairy lights and it's causing concern for residents," Mr Andrew said.
Mr Andrew said the council would work with Mr Marchant-Powell's family and friends to ensure the memorial was reinstated.
"We've offered to try and mitigate the situation," he said.
"I understand her son's friends have some things they'd like to put in place for the one-year anniversary and we're trying to assist with that and make recompense as much as we possibly can."