THE Maude Street Mall is one step closer to becoming a ‘shared space’ with one way traffic flowing from Fryers Street through to Stewart Street, following an endorsement by council for option four of the mall options.
Although option three, which would see the mall redeveloped as a revamped pedestrian space only, was ranked the most popular, option four received more first and second preference votes leading council to make the decision to endorse it.
The project will now progress to a detailed design and business case phase on the adopted option. The detailed design work will examine opportunities to utilise existing infrastructure where possible and provide a plan for staging of construction. A business case analysis will provide council with a more detailed understanding of the project’s benefits and the return on investment for the project.
The cost estimate developed as part of the conceptual design work for option four is $16.4M, with more accurate costings expected to be obtained through the detailed design process as the overall scope of works is refined.
Greater Shepparton City Council Deputy Mayor, Cr Seema Abdullah said, “The business case is a standard process for significant council projects to ensure that ratepayer’s money is being spent in a responsible way. Business cases are required for most State and Federal government funding applications.”
The detailed design and business case would be expected to be completed by the end of 2019 subject to the appointment of the design contractor. The timeline for construction will be determined through the detailed design process with a potential construction period of up to 12 months. Commencement of the work will be determined by the availability of additional funding support.
“Council is actively advocating for funding support for this project through State and Federal Government,” Cr Abdullah said.
In total 1,039 responses were received as part of the survey process and using a preference ranking of survey respondents the variance between the four options was low.
Shepparton Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, Carl Hainsworth said, “We’re pleased that the council adopted one of the options. We were concerned that a decision wasn’t going to be made.
“At the moment we have a concept design only that has movement to change.
“The chamber is looking forward to continually working with council in regards to the final design.
“We’d like to see our sub-committee’s ‘town square’ concept added into the final design.
“We’re positive that by making a decision it will help to save businesses and attract new businesses to the area.
“We do feel though that it will be a challenge for council with the traffic flow but are confident that they will come up with a workable solution.
“Now we need support from our local members, both federal and state, to get funding to help see this become a reality.”
