Mall top of the agenda

If you happened to be walking down Maude St Mall on Saturday you may have spotted the Beneath the Wisteria group.

Members were discussing the future of Maude St Mall with a representative of Greater Shepparton City Council.

The group raised concerns about the mall with council business and industry development team leader Michael Carrafa.

Good conversation: Beneath the Wisteria members Bill
Brown, Greg Barnes, Tom Maher, and Robert McLean
with Greater Shepparton City Council's Michael Caraffa.

During the conversation Mr Carrafa spoke about the importance of the mall as Shepparton’s heart and the role council was playing in trying to revitalise it.

‘‘If we have a mall we need to invest in it,’’ Mr Carrafa said. ‘‘It needs to be stunning.’’ Beneath the Wisteria members drew attention to the layout of the mall and the need for seating to be placed in a more logical way.

Beneath the Wisteria’s Robert McLean said it was interesting to learn Maude St Mall was the same length as Melbourne’s Bourke St Mall.

Mr McLean felt Beneath the Wisteria had a better insight into what was happening with the mall.

‘‘I think we’ve got a better understanding of what’s happening and why it’s happening and Michael was very forthright about his views on how it should work and shouldn’t work,’’ he said.

‘‘I like the mall and I think it’s important for the city, I think the mall needs to be freshened up in the way it looks.’’

Fellow Beneath the Wisteria member Bill Brown said it was important for the mall to have a balance of stores which catered for a wide variety of people’s interests.

‘‘If you’ve got the goodies and you know the business you’ll get the trade,’’ he said.

Mr Carrafa said it was great to meet with Beneath the Wisteria and discuss what the future held for the mall.

He said many people were active through media and social media about their thoughts on the mall.

‘‘Everyone’s got something to contribute to this process,’’ he said.

‘‘We welcome people’s opinions and thoughts and Maude St Mall is the heart of Greater Shepparton and I think people need to be passionate about it, we need to make sure that whatever decision is made it’s the right decision.’’

Council has received a number of applications for the tender of the mall and will be reviewing them all.

‘‘Council is currently going through the process of determining who will be the successful applicant and ultimately it will be council who approves the awarding of that tender,’’ Mr Carrafa said.

This is Sionie Kelly’s story from today’s Shepparton News - “Mall top of agenda.”