Shops desert centre as Wynnum Rd project pushes ahead

THE future of a Brisbane shopping centre is in limbo as council pushes ahead with a major road corridor upgrade.

Some residents are protesting the widening of Lytton Rd. Picture: Elise Searson

THE future of a Brisbane shopping centre is in limbo as council pushes ahead with a major road corridor upgrade in a bid to reduce congestion.

The future of the centre, at 83 Lytton Rd, East Brisbane has been in doubt since the closure of a Spar supermarket in July last year.

A bakery and bottle shop have also shut and popular fish and chip shop The Fishmonger’s Wife announced last week it would move to a new site at Hawthorne .

Stage one of the upgrade includes widening of Lytton Rd between Latrobe St and Canning Bridge from four to six lanes.

Traffic on Lytton Road, East Brisbane. Picture: Patria Jannides

Brisbane City Councillor Jonathan Sri (Gabba) said the departure of the centre’s tenants was a loss for the community.

“When you widen a road and turn it into a six lane highway you make it much less friendly for pedestrians there, loss of foot traffic and business,” Cr Sri said.

Council’s infrastructure chairwoman Amanda Cooper said upgrading the Wynnum Rd corridor was a matter of road safety.

“Over five years, 53 serious traffic crashes have been reported along the short stretch of the Wynnum Rd corridor.

“This is about more than reducing congestion,”

Louis Toumbas.

Centre manager Louis Toumbas, whose family has owned the complex since the 1950s, said the planned upgrade to Lytton Rd was the main reason behind Spar closing, but the family was in no rush to sell the centre.

“It’s not officially on the market, but we have had people come and look at it,” he said.

“No one is going to be interested as they want to see what the road will look like after it’s finished.

“The shopping centre is not making the money that it could be making.”

Mr Toumbas said the centre could be knocked down and redeveloped but said the family was undecided whether they would refurbish the centre themselves or sell it after the road upgrades were completed.

He said remaining tenants were given the opportunity to break their lease after Spar’s closure.

The Fishmonger’s Wife co-owner Sue Meadowcroft said Spar supermarket had been the centre’s anchor store for many years.

“Once it shut it seemed inevitable that we would all have to move. The other businesses relied on that foot traffic,” she said.

The centre’s current occupants are now mainly small office-style businesses on short-term leases.

Despite the impact the Lytton Rd upgrade plans have had on the centre and objections from some members of the community, Mr Toumbas said the project was a good move.

“I know that there are people in the area that disagree with the upgrade of the road, but we totally agree with it,” Mr Toumbas said.

“The council is doing the right thing to upgrade the road.”