I hope you're enjoying the long weekend, lots of people taking in the sunshine, although it was freezing on the bike at 7am this morning!

This week, because many of you live nearby, I thought I'd tell you a bit about Church Street, and the role Brighton Travelworld plays in the development and amenity of this 'destination' shopping centre. And if you live further away, you still may be interested.

Church Street has approximately 300 businesses ranging from owner/operator shops, multi-location brands, and a significant number of offices above the shops and in buildings located just off Church Street.

And you may remember, about 3 years ago I got fed up with the amount of Graffiti (Tagging) in the street and asked for your help in identifying some culprits. This was successful, and soon after, the 4 youths came to the street with their parents, apologised to the shopkeepers affected, and cleaned up their tags.

It became obvious soon after, that to remove the balance of historical Graffiti from the street and laneways, I would need the help of the Church Street Traders Association which had been in hibernation for a number of years.

With the help of Julie Avery, I relaunched the Association, took on the role of President and started rebuilding the relationship with businesses, council, schools, nearby residents, and other parties.

Now 3 years later, I have a strong committee consisting of Adam (Bank of Melbourne), Tim (Brighton Newsagency), Don (Raouls), Dan (The Pantry), Andy (Sports Conscious), Marty (Domestix), Paula (Hamish & Grace), Mila (Kicking Curves), and Julie (Brighton Travelworld).

Some current and recent projects are listed below.

Best Regards
Keiran Cromie

The above are just a handful of Before/After examples from late 2016 - the start of the cleanup. And from there we had CCTV installed at each of the 3 Roundabouts and along Railway Walk/Well Street railway bridge. Coordinating these systems has been hugely beneficial in reducing Tagging especially on the Well St Bridge. Much time is spent producing videos of taggers and sending them to 8 local secondary colleges - a process which clearly 'gets the word out there' that tagging isn't tolerated in Church Street.

Just 4 weeks ago, 2 youths placed about 80 'Japan' tags (see below) on businesses throughout the street, most of which we removed the following day. Vicpol hopes to lay charges against the 2 youths based on our CCTV. 

And the support we give VicPol in solving crimes, mainly relating to burglaries in the street, has been significant.

We've been canvassing for the improvement in parking close to the centre. So a couple of things:

Woolworths Car Park - We supported Council's plan to develop the Woolworths car park into a multi-deck car park, but unfortunately have not been successful at this stage.
 
5 & 7 Well Street Car Park - Number 5 is that small car park behind the Dendy Centre. Difficult to get in and out of. 30 or more years ago, Council bought the block next door at Number 7 so as to double the car park at Number 5 and make it more useable. The saga relating to this expansion has dragged on for a number of years and consumed a serious amount of time and Council funds. Unfortunately, a small group of residents has been mislead by a Well Street developer into believing that Council intends to turn the area into a multi-deck car park.  Hopefully we'll see that issue sorted out soon.

Pods and Way Signage - If you park in or near Church Street, please note that Council has installed sensors (pods) in all the 'open air' car parks and most of Church Street. This has 2 effects.
1. They connect to 'Way Signage' so that numbers of empty car spaces can be advertised as you drive down the street.
2. You will be fined as soon if you over stay. Be careful after it goes live later in the year.

We're currently assisting Council with its implementation to ensure businesses and shoppers are serviced properly.

The Traders Association is very keen to support improvements to pedestrian safety. However, we have been vocal with Council in terms of the design they have adopted at Church/Male, Church/Carpenter, and soon to be constructed Church/St Andrews intersection. We believe the actual pedestrian crossings themselves are too close to the roundabout and that pedestrians should cross at least 1 car length 'before' the roundabout.

Currently, pedestrians appear from nowhere, and cause traffic jams in the middle of the roundabout thereby reducing traffic flow.

Unfortunately, at next week's Council meeting, Council will decide to adopt a similar design at Church/St Andrews Sts as has been installed at the other 2 roundabouts, and in our opinion, will cause traffic issues and not much improvement to pedestrian safety.
 

Local businesses have been hit very hard during the pandemic so we're hoping that everyone will get behind the businesses in the street as they return to the 'new normal'. Please keep in mind that even the big brands in the street are supporting the local community by employing local people.

CLICK HERE: To view a short Bayside Council 'Shop Local' video.

And finally, Brighton Travelworld was very excited to win our category at the recent Bayside Business Awards.  The link below takes you to the night:

CLICK HERE