Mall malaise

Dear Editor,

In the spring of 1989, I was volunteering as the program director for community radio station, 3ONE-FM.

One of the first live broadcasts undertaken by the newly licensed station was to cover the official opening of the Maude Street Mall.

This was an exciting time for Shepparton, one embraced by our then forward-thinking council, the general public and many traders.

It also tied in to the progressive “Solar City” theme espoused by the council at the time.

That was a different era!

Last week I went shopping for clothing and footwear down the mall and was staggered at the increase in empty shops since my last visit, but even more gobsmacked by its general shabby appearance.

Just look at of the sundial beneath the telecom tower in Fraser St.

This mosaic tied in beautifully with the notion of Shepparton, the “Solar City” and is now sadly in ruins just like the concept.

Imagine the jobs bonanza we could have had here if the “Solar City” theme was nurtured and developed, instead of being left to wither on the vine.

Successive councils have contributed to this demise due to their lack of maintenance of the area and inaction on revitalisation plans.

What is the problem and what do we need to do to move this forward?

I am aware there are plans to open up the Mall to traffic but I fear the time it is taking council to agree on a plan and implement it, will see the death of our CBD all together.

I ask you to think where you, as a proud Sheppartonian, would take a visitor to in this town?

The Lake precinct? Tick!

The botanical Gardens at Mt Kialla? Tick!

The Fryers St food precinct? Tick!

The lovely walks along the Goulburn River? Tick!

Maude Street Mall? Probably not unless you want to buy womens clothes.

The “vibrant” shopping strips along High Street and Wyndham Street? Ok, if you like traffic sewers, empty shops and derelict historical buildings.

I could go on but you get the picture.

To make matters worse, who were the geniuses who decided to shut two major intersections (Fryers Steet/Corio Street, Fryers Street/Maude Street) for drainage and Pedestrian crossing works, and Maude Street near Vaughan Street (for the bus interchange) ALL AT THE SAME TIME?

I’m no engineer, but surely they could have done one job at a time and blitzed that before moving on to the next intersection thus minimising the disruption to traffic and trading.

I ask again, what do we have to do to get our council off their collective backsides to get this Mall revitalisation up and running instead of floating grandiose ideas about an $18 million rail overpass.

I am at a loss, so are the traders I have spoken too.

Two ideas for you to mull over:

Re-open the Mall to traffic, urgently.

Expand the foodie precinct around Fryers Street to include the Mall and encourage more of our diverse ethnic cultures to set up cafes and restaurants, by the use of incentives such as rate and fee reductions. A foodie precinct based around the Mall would become a tourist attraction and help revitalise the CBD.

Our city council is failing us and the traders of the CBD, it’s time for some fresh ideas.

Yours faithfully,

Ern Meharry

Shepparton