THE design of the Maude Street Mall is near complete with some elements still in the pipeline, namely the area in front of the Telecom tower off Fraser Street.
The Greater Shepparton Chamber of Commerce and Industry conducted a survey among the traders in Fraser Street, Maude Street, Fryers Street and Wyndham Street and found of the businesses they surveyed, 100 percent support for the currently planned siting of the playground to be relocated into open area in front of the tower.
The traders along this stretch fully concur that they need the free flow and visual access of pedestrian traffic to be joined with the main Maude Street and not separated from it with the playground.
The results of the Chamber survey found that:
100 percent of respondents believe a playground in the Mall/CBD to be necessary and 99 percent consider the considered the playground should be designed to suit children up to 5 years of age. 100 percent prefer the location of the playground to be further into Fraser Street rather than the proposed location. 100 percent of respondents consider the Maude Street Mall should be redeveloped as part of the overall CBD masterplan. 100 percent of respondents would support the Council placing a temporary hold on the building of the playground until further consideration is made with regards to the best location.
In summary, the Chamber is extremely keen to see the redevelopment of the Maude Street Mall to proceed without delay however see that with good planning of future car parks at the western end of Fraser Street this would create a pedestrian friendly promenade and visual accessibility to include Wyndham Street.
