Doing something about Queen Street should be the number one priority.
It is the one Campbelltown place that stands out in need of some tender loving care.
Don’t get me wrong.
The town’s main street, once the busy heart of the town where everyone bumped into everyone else, is not beyond repair.
But a quick look while walking along it between Broughton Street and Dumaresq Street will tell you it is crying out for a makeover or an overhaul.
Call it what you will, it needs some work.
For starters, it needs council to change the planning code to allow plans for high rise buildings, which would inject some new residents and potential Queen Street shoppers.
Why council has sat back and done nothing for years in what used to be the jewel of Campbelltown is anybody’s guess.
It would not be fair to blame the current leadership, inexperienced as they are.
There were four mayors during the previous four year term of council and inertia was the state of play on our main street.
Plus, there was a time the local chamber of commerce would be lobbying the council to act before more stores went out of business, but that doesn’t happen nowdays.
Having spoken to several Queen Street landlords, I can tell you that “extremely frustrated’’ best describes their collective feelings when it comes to the lack of action on this very important part of Macarthur.
Campbelltown is now officially a “regional city’’ but a visitor to Queen Street may find that hard to believe.
I walked down most of Queen Street last week, and I can tell you it’s still worth a visit.
In among the boarded up shopfronts there are many gems to be discovered, from new coffee shops and food outlets, barbers and hairdressers.
It’s a bit grungy, but it’s still a pretty safe place to wander about in.
Put it this way, I wasn’t shocked to bump into the smartly dressed wife of a south west Sydney federal MP not too long ago, who was there for a bit of window shopping.
Maybe the mayor and the general manager and council’s management staff should take a stroll down Queen Street to see for themselves that it needs and deserves some tender loving care right now.
What an eye sore!
Good article
Breaks my heart…
The last attempt to do something about Queen St was when Council wanted to mall it but we organised an alternative idea that was endorsed by council. The Council must now consider the current planning ideas of a mixture of residential a business uses living together with the main shopping being in the centres but specialists traders in Queen St like coffee shops etc.