Regional Business HQ has welcomed a project which aims to address community safety concerns, describing the current state of the Bundaberg CBD as a “backward step for small business”.
The organisation has partnered with Bundaberg Regional Council and other local organisations, agencies and businesses to help reclaim and revitalise the city centre through the Safe Spaces, Thriving Places program.
The initiative focuses on improving public safety, focussing support where it is needed, reducing antisocial behaviour and creating a more welcoming environment for all.
Regional Business HQ CEO Brooke Fossey said safety concerns in the CBD had grown in recent months, affecting both staff and business operators.
“We have had the building on Quay Street, the Business Enterprise Centre, for more than 20 years and in the CBD for almost 35 years,” she said.
“We’ve had a bit of theft in the building and harassment from people in the CBD and our staff don’t feel safe.
“Businesses are now looking at exiting the building and working from home.
“It’s a backward step for small business.”
Through Safe Spaces, Thriving Places, partners aim to create practical solutions to restore confidence in the CBD.
These include increased safety measures, improved infrastructure, coordinated community responses and stronger collaboration between local stakeholders.
It couldn’t come at a better time, according to Brooke.
“We’ve got people that are closing doors, that are locking up,” she said.
“We’ve installed CCTV, we’ve locked doors permanently where it’s swipe card access.
“If you don’t have a thriving CBD, there’s not much else for the business community or people in general.”
Council’s priority actions under the Safe Spaces, Thriving Places framework include:
- Collaborating with CBD traders to explore activation opportunities.
- Increasing cleaning of CBD pathways and public areas.
- Strengthening coordination of local support services to improve homelessness responses.
- Advocating to government for greater accountability, transparency and support.
- Boosting Compliance Services presence for consistent local law enforcement.
- Reviewing CBD design options to balance modernisation, accessibility and affordability.
Find out more about Safe Spaces, Thriving Places or take the CBD survey here.
More news: Increased police presence to support safer CBD
Safe CBD for staff, customers a priority
That’s great for the cbd. But where are these people getting moved to. Northway plaza has experienced an increase in this area. Thank you local agencies for doing nothing to help the region as a whole
Free parking station for business staff close to cbd
It is not only a safety issue. The cbd is devoid of businesses that make you want to go there. Strip shopping as it used to exist is unattractive now. People who shop there go there now for a purpose, not pleasure. Parking is a nightmare. You feel like you are parked while looking for a park. Some specialist stores do really well. Maybe that’s the lesson. Some creativity and boldness from enterprise might work. Same old, same old doesn’t work And the Council don’t have that creativity.
How about consolidating shop space? I know several business owners that are always after larger shops then what they have & what is available is tiny. This especially makes sense now that other areas are developing as well as even if we did offer larger shop spaces & ran someday ran out of space we would have new areas to fill as well.
We are a town of 50,000+ people now with a greater region of 100,000+ & visitors ontop. With more growth to come larger shops & eateries makes sense.
The power to rework the CBD is actually currently on the other side of it. Remove the houses on Woongarra Street (between Walla Street & Tanthita Street) Turn this into shops. Theres also land next to Betta Electrical put shops on this as well. Use the building next to cityfit.
The supermarket, most CBD anchor stores & McDonalds are not in Bourbong Street why are small busisnesses squashed into Bourbong street? Congesting almost all the small businesses around where the customers have not been in a long time. Making it hard for them to standout. The only major things Bourbong Street has is Chemist Warehouse & the back entrance to Target & even that is on the other side away from the congestion of the post office area in an era where few people are sending letters email has taken over meaning the importance of the post office has greatly diminished.
Streets in order of importance to success of our CBD in the email era.
1. Woongarra Street
2. Woondooma Street
3. Targo Street
4. Tantitha Street
5. Barolin Street
6. Walla Street
7. Bourbong Street
8. Quay Street
9. Marybrough Street
10. Mclean Street
11. Toonburra Steet
12. Post Office Lane
13. Flinders Way
This will likely stay the case until the cultural precinct is built & that could be 20 – 30 years away. There is some potential to put a businesses on Marybrough street in the meantime at the mid city shopping centre this might be able to host a good store but it would need to be something that can pull customers into the area.
Reopen the cozy corner Internet Cafe that place was packed & right near the post office.
A return of important businesses like Bus & Turner, Muscular Arm, Home Hardware, Dick Smith & Chandlers Electrical would help. Many of these are likely not possible but maybe we could get replacements of similar nature.
Even the notion of more of our sugar-land businesses having a second store in our region could help. Maybe Franchising?
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New & returning residents should give it a crack as well something new & big could be a game changer. A new national chain store?
Take advantage of The Moncrieff theater. Get it to show a grater variety of new movies again.
In 2020 a three-storey, 40-room motel motel was approved for the former Meekak/Sizzler site this should have been built by now. https://www.brcnow.bundaberg.qld.gov.au/2020/09/17/three-storey-motel-approved-bourbong-street/
This would really help if it could be completed now that COVID is over.
The Bundaberg CBD has changed in anther way as job-networks, NDIS, Psychologists, community care & DES take over large amounts of building space that was traditionally needed for the shops to thrive. How can we attract new businesses or reestablish old businesses if all the space it taken by these.
Essentially we need free up as much additional space for shops to use in our CBD as possible. Idearly these services should not be in the CBD at all but you could gett these services to use the arcades instead if you like seeing they have been empty for a very long time.