LOOK back over the past 20 or so years and you’ll find plenty of Government projects that will leave you scratching your head.
Steven Marshall’s proposed Riverbank Arena and Jack Snelling’s Transforming Health are two of the more recent moves that failed to pass the pub test, and certainly haven’t aged any better with hindsight.
One of the more successful ones, at least at a local government level though, was the establishment of Renew Adelaide just over a decade ago.
At a time when the CBD was in transition and effectively on its death march, the not-for-profit came along to inject some vibrancy into the state’s capital by cutting red tape.
Vacant buildings and shopfronts long regarded as eyesores were transformed into experimental and innovative spaces through a 30-day rent free scheme, allowing young creatives and entrepreneurs the opportunity to push the boundaries of what the sleepy had come to expect.
Granted some failed, and the vacant shopfronts in Rundle Mall remain an ongoing battle, but some thrived.
Adelaide’s small bar scene is a lasting testament to this forward thinking attitude, completely revolutionising and activating the night life of the city.
It’s what helped to put Adelaide on the radar of institutions like Lonely Planet and The New York Times.
For as long as those issues have been plaguing the CBD, out here in Gawler we too have been fighting the battle.
It’s a question that seems to pop up every year – how do we entice people to stop and stay a while?
How do we activate our town?
During the past couple of months it’s one that won’t seem to go away, particularly when icons the Gawler Cinema are put back on the market or when businesses on Murray St are closing down.
So, what to do about the elephant in the room?
In today’s Bunyip, the Gawler and Business Development Group have called on Gawler Council to activate and beautify the town, and Murray St in particular, in a bid to prevent the death of our CBD.
It’s a proposal that resonates with this writer. Having spent three years in the Clare Valley, the transformation into an underperforming tourist town into a now thriving destination has been impressive.
But it wasn’t all that difficult either.
All it took was a buy-in from the community, a few simple albeit costly projects to improve streetscapes and amenities, and a few risktakers.
Clare’s main street today is a far cry to the drab and tired strip it was five years ago. Surely if a council a quarter the size of Gawler’s can do it then we can too.
