LOOKING at the history of Gawler, particularly the amount and variety of manufacturing that had occurred over the years, it saddens me that over the eight years I have lived here the level of business activity and the number and variety of businesses in my adopted home is still shrinking.
When I first moved here in 2014 Gawler had our own furniture factory.
Now I find my Gawler Library café is closing and my beloved Gawler cinema is finishing at the end of the month.
I go to the movies almost every week, something I have done since 1960.
I also noticed whilst driving up Murray St that the sweet shop seems to have closed down.
That is the second sweet shop that has closed since I moved here. What is going wrong?
I am aware that Australia’s cinema box office has dropped 32 per cent since the Pandemic.
The proliferation of streaming services would have added to the drop.
Burnside Council own the Regal cinema and have kept it going with a wide variety of movies as well as live shows.
Why cannot our council do the same?
Cinemas have gone through ups and downs since televisions appeared, then video tapes, DVD’s rentals.
Cinema adapted and weathered the storms.
I am sure if the Gawler cinema kept on going it would recover over time.
If the cinema closes it will be one less reason for people to go to Gawler.
The town needs to be brighter, more welcoming and people centric.
It does not need another deserted building.
We need to get rid of all that traffic that goes through town.
We need to clean up and brighten up our town centre.
Yes, the renovation of the Town Hall and the Institute Building is great but now they make the rest of the town look tired.
If we stay still we will go backwards.
We have a new council with some fresh young faces.
Time to leave your mark.
Brian Ming, Willaston
