Avondale Heights, East Keilor shopping strips in need of some love
Three shopping strips in Avondale Heights and East Keilor have come under fire from shoppers for being ugly, unsafe and run down. And now they’re calling on the council to fix them up.
North West
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Fed-up shoppers have called on the council to urgently fix up shopping centres in Avondale Heights and East Keilor.
The shopping strips on Military Rd, Avondale Heights and Dinah Parade and Centreway, Keilor East have been slammed for being sterile, dull and rundown.
Complaints include a lack of CCTV, appropriate parking and an unappealing aesthetic.
Avondale Heights & East Keilor Residents Association president Frank Di Blasi said he would often travel all the way to Highpoint just to get a decent shopping experience.
“It’s just a better atmosphere to shop, to have a coffee with my wife,” he said.
Mr Di Blasi said the locations desperately needed security cameras for safety.
The post office on Military Rd has been held up twice in the last two years, with the wine and spirit store on the same strip the victim of a recent burglary.
Avondale Heights Post Office postmaster Jim Li said the hold ups were a very scary experience.
“The first time someone came in with a gun and took money, the second time it was a knife,” he said.
“It would be a lot better if we had security cameras.”
Mr Di Blasi said the installation of CCTV should be the first issue that was addressed.
“It would reassure shop keepers and shoppers alike, and it would discourage thieves,” he said.
Many people had suggested large pot plants, flowers and modern-looking seats could help beautify the areas.
Mr Di Blasi said the parking situation around Military Rd was especially bad because it didn’t allow people enough time to visit the nearby doctors.
“There’s only one hour of parking, which doesn’t allow anyone to properly do anything,” he said.
“It’s not enough time to attend a GP visit, we need two hours of parking.”
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Moonee Valley Mayor Samantha Byrne said the council would look into the concerns and raise them at their monthly community safety meeting.
She said CCTV could be used as a prevention tool in areas of high crime, but that Avondale Heights and Keilor East were low crime areas.
“The relative cost, legal compliance and privacy issues would need to be carefully considered,” Cr Byrne said.
Cr Byrne said greening the shopping strips was a key aspect of their MV2040 strategy.
But she said the parking restrictions were needed to encourage turnover and allow as many people as possible to visit the shops.