NEGOTIATIONS over a bold bid for an attention-grabbing tightrope walk across Dangar Falls have reopened.
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Promoter Anthony Kelly has agreed to discuss his proposal further with Armidale Dumaresq Council at an extraordinary meeting on Monday.
The new development comes after Mr Kelly approached Council’s deputy mayor Jim Maher to voice his frustration at a perceived lack of support for the stunt.
Mr Maher told The Express he wanted Council to see “if there was any possibility” of the proposal going ahead.
“It’s an opportunity for Armidale to gain national and international coverage and it could potentially be very positive for us,” he said. “I’d just like to hear about the proposal in more detail to see whether it’s feasible or not.
“It could be that there’s no chance of it going through because of previous commitments and other issues, but I just wanted to revisit the matter.”
Former Armidale citizen of the year Mr Kelly said positive feedback from the community had inspired him to continue pushing for the stunt.
“Everyone’s very keen to see it happen and the next step is to go and do a small presentation at Council,” he said. “I’ll need to tell Council what’s going to happen and convince them that it’ll be a worthy thing for them to do.
“I think it’d be a huge public event for Armidale, so we’ll see what comes of the meeting.”
Mr Kelly said he had several ideas for promoting the stunt, such as an aerial shot of himself and a professional tightrope walker on the ledge of Dangar Falls.
The stunt could be the first time a person has crossed the falls since Signor Vertelli in the 1860s.
A statue depicting Mr Vertelli’s feat was recently donated to Armidale Dumarseq Council and eight sites are under consideration for the artwork.
Cr Maher said they would choose the statue’s resting place carefully to ensure its long-term preservation.
“We are not sure when it will be unveiled, at the moment we’re just determining where to put it,” he said.
“Obviously we don’t want it to be vandalised and it needs to be in a public place where people can view it, so we’ll see what the committee
recommends.”
The Visitors Information Centre, McCarthy Gardens, the East Mall near the corner of Marsh Street and the Central Mall between New England Hotel and National Australia Bank are the four prioritised sites for the statue.