Help shape Main Street upgrades

By Lachlan Ellis
Draft concept designs have been released for Stage 4 of streetscape upgrades on Main Street, Bacchus Marsh, and Council wants to hear from you.
Proposed works along Main Street itself include elm tree planting, a large-scale mural on the corner of Main Street and Gisborne Road, and uniform pavement treatment, while Courthouse Place between the Courthouse Hotel and Revenant Tattoo is also set to be upgraded.
The mural would adorn the wall which currently has the ‘bottle’ trees in front of it, which may be relocated to Maddingley Park. The trees are targeted for removal by Regional Roads Victoria as they upgrade the Main, Grant Street and Gisborne Road intersection.
In Phase 1 of consultation, Main Street businesses were asked what they wanted from the upgrades and how they’d be affected, with Phase 2 being the current stage, where the whole community is invited to give their thoughts.
Community drop-in sessions were held on Wednesday 18 May and Tuesday 24 May, and a survey is up on Council’s Engagement Hub website until Monday 6 June.
At the 18 May session, landscape architect Perry Mills and Moorabool Shire Council Technical Engineer Simon Blanchfield encouraged the community to have their say and help shape the project.
“This is a rather unique opportunity, because it’s not too often that alternative designs get put up in projects like this…this is actually allowing a little bit more input from the community than is usual. We may go with one option or combine both for Courthouse Place. It’s a valuable space, but we haven’t had the community come forward yet with what they want for the space,” Mr Mills said.
“We really are committed to creating a really green streetscape, and the choice of trees is going to be driven partly by the historical association of elm trees with the Avenue of Honour. We’re wanting to introduce new trees along the north side, they’ll be set into the road a little bit, not in the footpath.”
Mr Blanchfield said that the streetscape upgrades haven’t yet been funded, but community input would help make the upgrades the best they can possibly be when funding does come through.
“We’d really like to hear what people think of the ideas we’ve formed to date. It’s a community space, so the more community input there is into what it’ll look like, the better,” he said.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

 https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-05-24/4

in the 24 May 2022 edition
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pick up a paper around your town.