Rob Hamilton, Wauchope Chamber of Commerce writes:
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The whole Wauchope community will be excited to see any constructive work carried out in the CBD and many hope that they will live long enough to see it.
To quote the consultants, when they were in town last year getting feedback from the community about what they would like to see: “Wauchope would have to be the most over-reported and under-implemented CBD they have come across”.
Reports for the upgrading/improvement of the Wauchope CBD extend back 25 years or more with framework plans, designs, community and business input etc.
The council announcement last week of the appointment of consultants King & Campbell, and a new scheduled commencement date of early 2017, came as another surprise to the local community, who had previously been advised that design work was underway, and that work on the movement of the two pedestrian crossings would commence by the end of this financial year, i.e. in three weeks’ time, a bit deja-vu-ish for many observers.
More twists and turns than the Oxley Highway. Some want to know if the joint resources of Port Macquarie Hastings Council and the Roads and Maritime Services were not sufficient to do the job. Apparently the location of services under the roads was creating some problems.
The moving funding available also came as a surprise to many, including council apparently. Only a couple of months ago, the Wauchope Chamber of Commerce was in contact with Oxley MP Melinda Pavey who confirmed that the $300,000 originally announced was all there was currently available for this project, and before the end of the financial year, and before the commencement of any work, there is now $520,000.
Wauchope CBD is worthy of a facelift. It is a bright, friendly town with a fantastic reputation for shopping, and located slap bang on the Oxley Highway. It has history and it has diversity – attributes we should be able to showcase, but this is not just an issue for outside agencies, Wauchope should be mature enough by now to be proactively taking the initiative.
Wauchope Chamber of Commerce have initiated discussions with council’s heritage officer to develop an historical walking trail of the town, to allow locals and visitors to gain a greater appreciation of the points of interest, buildings and their history.
The aim is to produce a brochure and appropriate signage. that will draw and retain visitors. Port Macquarie have their CBD Masterplan Committee and fund which is a pool of money contributed by the property-owners to be used for the enhancement of the CBD.
Maybe it is timely for the Wauchope CBD to look at something similar again.