Calling for feedback

WCC media release: Wednesday 19 October 2022

We know how important our diverse shopping and work centres are for our community. We’ve drafted a strategic document that guides the planning of these places right across our city, and it is on public exhibition for community feedback.

The draft Retail and Business Centre Strategy focusses on the city, town, and village centres in the Wollongong Local Government Area. It aims to understand the current and future retail, commercial and urban service needs of our city. This will help us to facilitate and/or deliver more sustainable local employment opportunities, economic productivity, and convenient access to services for an increasing and evolving population.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said that the draft Strategy will ensure our centres continue to improve to meet the needs of our community as well as supporting our city’s growth.

“We’ve around 50 clusters of shops in our city that vary in size and use. We’ve major town centres like Fairy Meadow and Unanderra, towns like Helensburgh and Port Kembla, villages like East Woonona and Coniston and small villages or corner shops like in Kelly Street, Berkeley," Cr Bradbery said.

“We all use at least one of our city’s retail or business spaces, whether it’s for our job, to shop, grab a bite or as a place to socialise and connect. They’re valued spaces that play a big part in the everyday life of our community."

There are 22 key recommendations outlined in the draft Retail and Business Centre Strategy. They’re grouped together under the following directions:

• The role of our centres is clear
• Our centres are a good fit for our community
• Our new centres in West Dapto are well planned
• Our Centres are active and vibrant
• Our Centres are accessible and support transport mode shift (increasing active and public transport use)
• Our City Centre is a thriving commercial precinct.

“Our draft Strategy outlines ways we can help our centres thrive now and in the future. This includes recognising our growing population and how our centres will help accommodate employment opportunities and access to goods and services," Cr Bradbery said.

“A few key areas in the strategic document look at capitalising on the growing night-time economy, improving multi-modal accessibility, creating good amenity and improving existing spaces.”

Council engaged with internal and external stakeholders to help inform the Strategy. This included a survey with residents, technical analysis and review by an external consultant and use of existing Council planning documents.

“Late last year, we undertook a Shape Your Town survey to find out how our community use their local centres. One of the main points raised is that our community valued centres with a mix-use purpose, offering an array of goods and services. We’ve reviewed the feedback and incorporated it the Strategy where we can,” he said.

“The draft Strategy is an important document for our city, now and in the future. It will help guide how we live, work, connect and shop. So, I highly encourage residents to have a read of the document and provide any comments you may have before Friday 2 December."

If the Strategy is adopted, the recommendations will be implemented through varied planned projects. Some recommendations may involve proposals to change planning controls contained in the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan (LEP) and Development Control Plan (DCP) to help support the recommendations. Any proposed changes to planning policies will be exhibited for community input as a separate process.

For more information and to have your say, visit the exhibition page on Our Wollongong website. It is currently on exhibition until Friday 2 December 2022.