Ideas to fix Ballarat’s maligned shopping strip have come thick and fast with a push for a redevelopment of Bridge Mall.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
RELATED COVERAGE
A legacy of 1980s city planning, businesses on the shopping strip have reported declining patronage and rising vacancies.
The issue came to a head when Ballarat City councillor Amy Johnson requested a staff briefing into reopening the mall to traffic at general meeting earlier this month.
Allowing vehicles to use the strip has long been mooted as a potential answer to its problems.
It was just one of several suggestions put forward by shoppers and retailers alike.
Another was to provide a canopy along the length of the mall, to protect shoppers during Ballarat’s wintry weather.
Some shoppers have also suggested more cafes, restaurants and boutique shops were needed to make it a destination location for Ballarat residents.
The good news for Ballarat is three other Australian cities have addressed similar problems with their own malls in the past decade.
Geelong, Stawell and NSW city Newcastle overhauled their own shopping strips in an effort to boost patronage.
Committee for Ballarat chair Janet Dore was Newcastle City Council general manager from 1999-2007.
She was also involved with the Geelong authority overseeing the city’s redevelopment.
Ms Dore said works in those two city’s provided good lessons for Ballarat.
Like Bridge Mall, Geelong’s Little Malop Street has been maligned for its poor development and crime rates.
At one end of the street that has now changed, with Greater Geelong City Council repaving with a modern look.
Combined with new restaurants and cafes investing in the street in the past few years, foot traffic has returned.
In Newcastle, the street was reopened to low speed traffic, with restrictions as low as 15km/hr for cars.
Ms Dore said this had successfully reactivated the city’s shopping strip.
“That city centre is redefining its role, catering more to tourism and visitors,” she said.
“It seems to have revitalised that quite a bit and seems to work very well for it.”
Stawell vacancy rates on its main street dropped sharply following reopening of its mall to traffic in 2004.
Fifteen shops were empty before the change, with only a few long-term vacancies remaining afterwards.
Ms Dore said there would not be a single solution to fixing Bridge Mall’s woes.
“It has to be different to traditional shopping malls because people are looking for experience, not just shopping,” she said.
Traders demand a facelift
Public misconceptions of Bridge Mall have been the biggest problem to face the retail strip, according to its traders and business owners.
Wen and Ware Living owner Wendy McLachlan said the mall’s biggest problem was high rent costs that made it difficult for boutique and independent stores to open.
“Some of the big shops need to take a good look at themselves and the way they present themselves,” she said.
“I have been in the mall 30 years and there are still excellent stores down here.
“There has always been a negative stigma and I have battled that for 30 years.
“It would be lovely to have more boutiques, but because the rents are so high, small boutiques don’t do it.”
Ms McLachlan said traders were frustrated by a lack of investment in the mall from Ballarat City Council in recent years, which had forced them to pay for their own upgrades on the strip.
“I pay $25,000 in rates, but at my shop in Melbourne I pay a third of that,” she said.
“They put two canopies in, which we contributed money to, but they really need more.
“The more the city council spends down here to make it boutique the better, the city needs to reinvest back into the mall.”
It has been a decade since the mall underwent any significant refurbishment or landscaping. This includes the interior and exterior of Norwich Plaza, which some traders said was overdue for a facelift.
Riot! Arts & Craft store manager Dale Braybrook said the mall needed a more diverse range of retailers.
Clothing and shoe stores dominate the strip, with big name outlets such as Cotton On, Lorna Jane and Sussan calling it home.
Mr Braybrook said diversification would make the mall more of a destination.
“We have too many of the one type of shop and Ballarat’s economy with job losses has hurt as well,” he said.
“Everyone wants more cover particularly in winter, a lot of people are into opening it up to traffic, but it also needs money spent on it, because it is really rundown.”
Riot! Arts & Craft used to lease a larger space towards the Grenville Street South end of the mall, but moved further east in search of a smaller space and cheaper rent.
Bridge Mall Traders Association president Shane Donnithorne said the mall’s competitors were also offering very favourable leasing arrangements to retailers.
“Shopping centres do pitch to national retailers with incentives like capital contributions for fit outs and rent free periods,” he said.
“The main factor has been a consolidation by national retailers, where they have run one or two stores in a town and consolidated it.”
Long-term solution wanted for problems
Ballarat City Council has made plans to address the failing Bridge Mall shopping precinct with a new masterplan to increase the area’s popularity.
The masterplan will include a broad look at the entire Bakery Hill precinct, which has been hit with a growing number of business closures and empty shops.
Council development and planning director Angelique Lush said traders, shoppers and residents would be consulted for the masterplan.
“We know Ballarat has an opportunity to capture an additional $547 million of retail expenditure every year,” she said.
“The precinct provides a prime opportunity for the growth of the retail and business services sectors in the CBD.
“Revitalisation of the precinct is critical to delivering the retail jobs needed for Ballarat’s growing population, and to sustain the function of the CBD as the city’s high-end retail and entertainment destination.”
There were 10 vacancies on the mall early last week, with another four shops empty at the southern end of Sturt Street.
The area will be further impacted when Thomas Jewellers closes its flagship store in the coming months.
Key recommendations and capital works will be implemented across the next decade, once the masterplan has been completed early next year.
Ballarat City mayor Samantha McIntosh said any solution had to be long-term and ensure the mall’s future for the next decade.
“The option to open the Bridge Mall to traffic is certainly on the table,” she said.
“This is an option that the City of Ballarat will take leadership on.
“The key consideration for the City of Ballarat will always be the long-term financial viability.”