“It’s been like this for years,” Mr Zahrooni said.

His shop, Plaza Diamond Jewellery, has been open in the centre for 18 years, but a recent ownership change and what he calls “blatant neglect” has given him no option but to close.

“My kids grew up in this centre,” he said.

“I love it here, but the way it’s been going I’ve had a 99 per cent decline in business since the IGA closed. I’ve had no customers today, and it’s been that way for a long time.”

The IGA supermarket in the centre closed last year, leaving a gap for shoppers but also for the small business owners.

“It's disgusting," 78-year-old shopper Janette Spiteri said.

“We used to come here all the time, it was a hub, to laugh and meet up over a coffee, but now it’s so sad. But it’s the only place I can get to by bus.”

Shopper Jane Mitchell called the mall dangerous, concerned about tripping hazards and faulty wirings.

“There’s nobody left; there’s no cafes, no IGA, the butcher is gone and a fire took out a cafe at the front.

“The whole place is a hazard inside, and half of the ceilings are falling down, the entire roof could collapse, that’s just dangerous and I worry about my daughters coming here.”

“When you hear from the businesses it’s heartbreaking. Half of them have left and the others are locked into leases that they can’t afford.”

Tobacconist Cheng Ly has watched as the businesses shut up shop over the years and says communication with management has been non-existent.

“How can I run a business with no people?” Ms Ly said.

“Who goes to a centre with no newsagency and no grocery store?”

“I used to have lines of people waiting to shop here. It used to be on a Thursday night there would be families in the food court and kids, but now by 5pm you can’t find one person.

“You can’t get an answer when you call, we go to meetings but there’s no answer to anything.”

Austino Property Group purchased the centre in 2008, reopening the centre in 2009 with all the fanfare and spectacle of a carnival, and announced plans for a redevelopment in 2014.

Raquel Bazergy, speaking on behalf of the Austino company, said while it “appreciated” customers’ concerns, it was not willing to discuss any tenancy arrangements, including the loss of IGA.

“In relation to existing and vacated tenants, as you can appreciate, the Australian Governments Privacy Act applies and Savills (as centre management) nor its client Austino are not in a position to discuss individual lease hold/commercial business arrangements.”

According to Ms Bazergy, the Department of Planning and Investment has recently agreed to the redevelopment of the mall, with PTW architects engaged to prepare the development application.

There are currently 17 active development applications lodged for the suburb of Wentworthville, with business owners pointing out the centre will not cater to the rise in populations brought on by the new apartment buildings.

“There’s so much construction happening,” Mr Zahrooni said.

“Where are the people who move into those places going to go? Because they won’t want to come here.”

Cumberland Mayor Greg Cummings said the council’s planned Wentworthville Town Centre Revitalisation project would hopefully make a difference.

The project, including public domain upgrades, will be finalised this year, with work to begin in early 2019.

“I always thought Wenty Mall had an unfortunate design” Cr Cummings said.

“Now it will go through a transitional stage that will likely be disruptive, since the mall is a hub for the area, but hopefully once the upgrades are complete Dunmore St will be an attractive street to walk down.”

A development application is yet to be submitted for the mall but a planning proposal is seeking to create a new heart for the town centre with two towers of apartments and retail and commercial space including a full-line supermarket.

A revised plan was submitted in November last year, with the local environment plan changed to accommodate increased building heights.

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