The Monaro Street upgrade is ongoing – and so are its impacts on businesses. Photo: Queanbeyan City Travel and Cruise/Facebook.
Queanbeyan Council is pushing ahead with support for Monaro Street businesses, despite worries about a lack of consultation and engagement with what they really need.
Monaro Street was closed in mid-March for six months for a major infrastructure project, bringing upgrades to its medians, road surface, footpaths, pedestrian crossings, stormwater drainage and gutters.
While the council hopes it will revitalise the town’s main thoroughfare, it’s also drawn criticism from local businesses which say trade has dropped since the closure started.
At a recent meeting, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) agreed to endorse the development of a new $100,000 program.
It’s hoped the initiative, which will see eligible businesses get up to $10,000 each, which will cover building upgrades and repairs.
During the discussion, Mayor Kenrick Winchester said he hoped the program would support affected businesses.
“That’s probably not going to happen,” he said of all eligible businesses joining the program.
“But if those business owners [know we have this program, that] sends a clear indication that we’re backing them.”
Council documents state the program is separate from the Shopfront Improvement Program, which covers facade renovations for 20 businesses.
The new program would only open to buildings facing Monaro Street between Lowe and Collett streets.
But it was this wide eligibility that drew concern from councillor Katrina Willis, who questioned whether vacant sites should be able to participate.
“I don’t know what level of support there will be [for this] … [We’re] told there’s potentially 39 eligible premises, but there’s not enough money to give 39 premises $10,000 each.”
According to meeting documents, there are 10 spots in the program.
Councillor Morgan Broadbent failed in an attempt to see the proposed endorsement deferred.
He said QPRC should hold off until it had “more detail” about how the money would be used.
“I think just saying, ‘Yeah, we’re going to have the money there’ [isn’t what we should do].
“I’d happily spend slightly more than that, if we had a great couple of projects.”
He said the current approach, while being “great in principle”, risked giving money in a “blanket” way.
Concerns around a lack of engagement were also echoed by councillor Mareeta Grundy.
She called for any deferral to come with consultation with businesses.
“We don’t know whether they will support it or not.
“This is an idea coming from somewhere – I know the previous council has done something similar – but surely, if we’re going to be allocating money … that should be based on very solid ground that we are giving businesses what they want.”
The closure is set to last for six months. Image: Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
Cr Grundy also raised a concern about whether the program would make a difference for Monaro Street businesses.
“Mister Mayor, do you really think businesses and the broader population are going to congratulate council for spending, or putting up $100,000 … The risk is, we could be laughed at, [or a belief] that we are not being genuine about this.”
Mayor Winchester said that, if there was more demand than the available slots, it would be returned to QPRC for a decision on how to proceed.
He also said the approach recommended to councillors in the meeting papers already included a plan for QPRC to consider the applications.
He said the amendment and the original motion “almost gets [council] to the same point”.
Ultimately, Cr Broadbent’s amendment failed, though the initial motion was adopted.
The meeting papers state that applications will open on 1 May, with projects to be delivered between July and September.
