CBD upgrade is highlight of council budget plans

The plan comes in the wake of calls for action to attract new retailers to Orange and invigorate the area as a community-space.

Orange Mayor Reg Kidd said an upgrade of Orange’s CBD was one of the main appeals that came from the recent ‘Where to Next?’ community-wide conversation, that happened as part of developing the city’s new Community Strategic Plan.

“When we asked people what they loved about Orange and what they wanted to see happen in the future, we heard how important the heart of Orange is, both when it comes to shopping, doing business and gathering together for big community events,” Cr Reg Kidd said.

“There’s a big push in the Strategic Plan for the council to do more to support the local economy and enable jobs to grow. One of the biggest employment sectors in Orange is retail and a major shot-in–the-arm for the CBD is a key part of that.”

Orange City Council Finance Committee chair and Deputy Mayor Cr Joanne McRae is pleased the CBD upgrade has found its way into the draft budget.

“The CBD is at the heart of our community, and it’s critical that we invest to bring it up to the standards of a modern, growing, vibrant city,” Cr Joanne McRae said. “It’s a key place that brings locals, visitors and tourists together. It’s also a central place for us to live, business to prosper, preserve our heritage and collaborate together.

“The design stage is going to take a lot of work and this is only the first step, but it’s a very important project for the people of Orange. Whether it’s simple steps like improving the coloured street lights and adding free WiFi or bigger changes like putting in place what’s needed to attract key retailers and making it a place people can meet, this is what needs to be explored.

“Residents can be assured we’ll be consulting with expert designers and putting the best ideas out for community discussion. We’ll also need financial help from other tiers of government to make sure we get a CBD that will be a power house for the region for years to come.”

“When people are proud of their CBD and can see people coming from other centres to shop and do business here, that can really set the tone for business in the broader community, “ Garry Styles said. “We want a CBD local residents can be proud of, that attracts key retailers, that has the infrastructure, technology and space that lets us grow.”

The project is based on spending $15 million each year for two years. Of the total of $30 million, $10 million would come from the council and $20 million would come from government grants, which has yet to be secured.

The list of other key capital projects in the draft council budget includes :

A number of these projects* depend on successful grant submissions to the NSW and Australian governments.

The draft budget will be considered at the 15 May council meeting, and it’s expected that it will be put on-show for community comment and discussion.