I have been in the CBD of Shepparton as a retailer for 47 years, I don’t think I am quite over the hill yet. I just cannot fathom what we are attempting to do in our CBD’s current mall. what is the CBD, is it a place to shop, do business, or is it a place to relax and play? We have some of the most stunning parks in country Victoria, the lake area is 2nd to none for social and family activities, our mall is seriously for business, retail, professional business, sure it can have visual beauty, open areas, play areas free of traffic, but really, today’s customers are just that, customers that no longer want to walk 100 or 500 metres to do their shopping, that is why the Riverside and Marketplace shopping centres are mostly full, they have parking close to the shopping, they don’t have pretty and fancy public spaces, they are designed for easy retail access, that is what shoppers and business want. If it’s too hard, they shop online, the large majority of our spending community want just easy access, yes we have become lazy, but that will not reverse, we as a community and country are busier, the large majority want to get in and out, OK if there needs to be areas to relax and play, but that is the minor requirement of what this area should be directed to, we have 2 areas, Stewart and Fraser Streets for traffic free area’s and activities, wide veranda’s for comfortable weatherproof shopping, eating and drinking, all we need is a one way road with as many parks as possible, surely we can make that visually and aesthetically possible, the only way we will attract new and hold business in our CBD is to make it simple and easy for shopping, that’s 365 days of the year, the rest is just feel good, it’s a business centre, please remember that.
Is the plan on the table what a CBD is for, we need to attract business and customers, that’s 80% of what I would think was the goal, the other is 20%, but on the planning it is the opposite. It’s pretty, but will fall very short of what we all really want. Business!
Regards
Craig Blizzard
Shepparton.
