Matt Hewson
Geelong council endorsed draft master plans for community consultation for two of the city’s most important areas at this week’s council meeting, though not without dissent.
Desperate to revive the long-ailing Market Square Quarter, which councillors referred to more than once as the “heart of Geelong”, the area’s draft master plan sets out an “ambitious but considered vision” for the transformation of the area to “stimulate tenant demand and visitor interest”.
The preferred option of the three put forth in the draft master plan, named Malop Heart, proposes the closure of traffic along Little Malop Street to Moorabool Street, an “activated north-south pedestrian ‘Eat-Street’” between Little Malop and Malop Streets and a five- to 12-storey apartment/hotel development on the northwestern corner of the block.
Councillor Peter Murrihy said the master plan and resultant community consultation represented a “unique opportunity”.
“The people of Geelong have been screaming from the rooftops for years now: ‘fix the mall, fix Market Square’; this report attempts to address this” he said.
“The plan could see the much-maligned Market Square precinct transformed into an area boasting a hotel, apartments and public forecourt, as well as a retail and entertainment complex. Perhaps we could finally find an area we could call the heart of Geelong.”
Deputy Mayor Anthony Aitken was not convinced by the report, saying the recommendations in the draft master plan were “the wrong approach”.
“The limited amount of funds we have to influence what’s happening in the CBD should be targeted towards an activation plan for the Market Square Shopping Centre, not a master plan design,” he said.
Cr Aitken said council should focus on working with shopping centre owners Davinski Nominees, using coercive measures if a positive working relationship couldn’t be established.
“I believe we should be sending a delegation to them to say, what do you wish to do with your investment, because it is hurting Geelong and is hurting our future investments,” he said.
“And then, if we don’t succeed…I believe we should be looking at a special rates and charges scheme…to put pressure on that owner to actually do what Geelong wants.”
Cr Aitken also refused to support the Mercer-Gheringhap-Bayley Streetscape draft master plan, which seeks to revitalise the important stretch of road leading into Geelong’s CBD.
“The reality is it’s focused on beautification and not on the functionality of what actually should be occurring in this precinct area,” he said.
“We’re going to now go to the public with a design master plan without actually having all of that (necessary) strategic work undertaken.”
