How building infrastructure and waiting for roadworks is hurting local business
THEY’RE the billion-dollar projects the government promises will fix our cities, but they’re having a devastating impact on locals.
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THEY’RE the roadworks and updates supposed to revolutionise and better our cities but more often than not, they’re doing the exact opposite.
Walking down some of Sydney’s busiest streets, especially those surrounding Central Station, it’s hard not to notice that the area has become a ghost town.
A huge pub that used to bustle with an office lunch crowd is boarded up, a sushi restaurant open for 14 years has closed its doors forever and a cafe that used to have a line of people waiting for a morning coffee is empty.
It’s been a year since construction started on the city’s innovative light rail project, a part of “Tomorrow’s Sydney”.
However, the longer the construction goes on, the more businesses are realising they mightn’t even be part of the ambitious project.
One street hit particularly hard is Surry Hills’ Devonshire Street, where business owners claim they’ve been “caged in” ever since construction started more than a year ago.
Sam Kumar, who runs the Indian restaurant Bollywood Mirch Masala, has been one of the worst hit, telling news.com.au he’s less than a month away from closing up shop forever.
“I’ve gone from making over $3000 a day to barely making $300. There’s no movement at all,” he says in his empty restaurant.
To make matters worse, Mr Kumar’s rent has increased as the building is owned by a private landlord.
“I’m 67 years old and doing 16 hour days. That’s $300 for 16 hours of work. I can’t do it for much longer. If I have to close up, I’m going to have to go on the dole because who will hire a 67-year-old to work? No one will,” he said.
Others fear going on the record, perhaps worried the attention might further hurt their already struggling businesses but every business has the same concerns.
A nearby cafe owner said their usual morning rush has turned to a trickle.
“The street used to be full of places to park but now people have to make a huge effort if they want to actually visit us,” she said.
“We’re facing over a 25 per cent loss in profit and we’ve cut our casual staff down to half of what it used to be.
“We’re not at the point of closing yet but we’re barely making a living at the moment,” she added.
Even a cafe closing next door, which went out of business because of the light rail construction, hasn’t helped.
And a convenience store owner, who also described himself as “caged in”, said they’ve been hit hard by the changes.
“Maybe we’ll get some rent assistance, if we’re lucky, but I hope we get something soon because it’s been really, really bad,” he said.
A newsagent, whose business also sits on a street where the light rail is being built, said he no longer relies on communication from the government.
“I don’t listen anymore because first they said six months then it turned into nine and now it’s been over a year since they started construction. We’ve all been badly affected,” he said.
In a statement to news.com.au, Transport for NSW co-ordinator general Marg Prendergast said they’ve had continuous contact with local business owners and that supporting them has always been their priority.
“Supporting small businesses is a priority as we want to ensure that the businesses who have experienced disruption while we build the light rail can experience the benefits once services start running in 2019,” Ms Prendergast said.
“As part of this support, we regularly door knock to check in on local businesses, ensure they have information on construction activities, deliver business signage and directories along route, are developing new signage options seeking business input, roll out precinct based shopping guides and videos, activate target areas to increase foot traffic and co-ordinate offset parking plans with councils,” she added.
Ms Prendergast also said struggling Sydneysiders need only look north, to Queensland’s Gold Coast light rail project, as an example of brighter days.
“The Gold Coast experience tells us that while construction was a difficult time for businesses — that business thrived once the work was done and even more so when light rail started running,” she said.
“In the meantime some small businesses on the light rail alignment who believe they have been impacted such as where construction has taking longer than originally expected may request assistance from TfNSW to help with their rent and bills,” she added.
And while Queensland might be past their light rail days, other roadwork is still proving an issue for a number of businesses.
In an interview with The Gold Coast Bulletin, local bakery owner Rob Horner said roadworks out the front of his shop have been “a nightmare”.
While originally told roadworks, part of the Southport-Burleigh Road upgrade, would only take two weeks, five weeks later the construction is unfinished — and has forced him to cut back staff hours.
“I’ve got 13 employees here. They’re all having to get their hours cut back because of the length of time this is taking,” he said.
“You can’t pull in on Bundall Road ... they’ve done away with all our carparking out the front, the bus stop as well — that’s been moved so we don’t get people coming to the shopping centre anymore.
“Deliveries have to travel 100, 150m from the carpark to get to my shop — we’re talking about a tonne of flour and that sort of stuff ... it’s a nightmare,” he added.
A Transport and Main Roads spokesman said they had done “everything possible” to minimise disruption to local business and residents and there were “currently no delays being experience on the work being carried out”.
Originally published as How building infrastructure and waiting for roadworks is hurting local business
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