The refurbishment of Crown Street Mall has been flagged as the first of 10 key projects Wollongong City Council will focus its attention on as part of a new CBD Action Plan, launched by Administrators today.
The Action Plan outlines eight short term, medium term and long term projects to revitalise the city centre. These projects will help encourage confidence in the city centre and support the business community to maximise jobs and investment. They include;
• Crown Street Mall upgrade
• Business retention and investment attraction
• Streetscape upgrades in Keira and Crown Streets
• Streetscape upgrades along Burelli Street and redevelopment of MacCabe Park
• Streetscape upgrades in Crown Street, East
• Upgrade of Civic Plaza and its edges
• Encouraging quality building outcomes for key development sites in and around the CBD
• Traffic improvements in and around the CBD
At the same time, Council will progress on two important priorities that are linked to the CBD. They include:
• Restoration of the Bathers Pavilion Precinct
• A vision for Wollongong-south.
Administrator Robert McGregor AM, said the Action Plan was developed through consultation with a range of stakeholders, including the City Centre Advisory Committee, and information contained in the city’s key strategic documents.
“We wanted to create one document that would bring together the approach of key stakeholders in the city and present a clear direction to government bodies and the private sector about where our city’s priorities lie,” Administrator McGregor said.
“The Action Plan is a practical document that not only lays out our future priorities, but also includes costs, timelines and responsibilities of Council and other key stakeholders in the city centre.”
“Wollongong has a range of important strategic plans, including Council’s Strategic Directions 2010-13, the 2007 City Centre Revitalisation Strategy and the Wollongong Futures work compiled in 2005,” Administrator McGregor said.
“The Action Plan consolidates this thinking to provide the community, business and government with a clear and concise picture of where Council will invest time and money in the CBD over the next five years.”
“Council is confident this will help us drive development of the city centre and encourage confidence amongst current business and future investors in the region’s capital,” he added.
Chair of the Council’s City Centre Advisory Committee, Diane Murray, welcomed the release of the Action Plan and said it has a major step forward for the city of Wollongong,
“It has been a great pleasure for the Advisory Committee to work with Council to look closely at what our city centre needs in order to attract investment, provide business confidence and make Wollongong a more attractive and liveable city,” Ms Murray said.
“I support the ten key projects listed in the Action Plan and look forward to working with Council and other key stakeholders like the Property Council, Illawarra Business Chamber, the Port Authority and University of Wollongong, to see these projects come to fruition.”