Florentine Boutique, Six Points Cafe: Moonee Valley Council reverses controversial Puckle St car ban

It was a plan traders said would have been the death of popular Puckle St. But instead of a funeral, beleaguered business have a new lease on life.

Moonee Valley council has been forced to abandon plans to close Puckle St to traffic in a council meeting on Tuesday nights. Local traders, who say that they were not consulted over the plans, described the car ban as a “terrible idea.”Photo: Luis Enrique Ascui

A council in Melbourne’s north has been forced into an embarrassing back down over plans to ban cars from one of the city’s premier shopping strips.

Traders on Moonee Ponds’ Puckle St described the proposal as a “disaster” and they would lead to “the death of Puckle St” while reaffirming that council pursued the idea without consultation.

“It could be the death of Puckle St,” Timothy Morris, who owns 6 Points Cafe, said.

“It’s dead enough now,”

He said following Victoria’s six lockdowns his business only trading at 30 per cent of its pre-Covid peak.

“If anything, we need more parking. There’s not a lot of foot traffic because of the lack of parking,” Mr Morris said.

Like other traders spoken to by Leader, Mr Morris received no consultation over the council’s plans.

“We are a destination venue. Restricting parking wouldn’t suit us,” he said.

On Tuesday night, Moonee Valley Council voted to scrap plans to make Puckle St car free, however, a number of councillors expressed their regret for doing so.

“I can’t say I’m especially pleased to be moving this motion,” Cr Jacob Bettio said.

Mr Bettio said it was the lack of expected funding from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions that led the council’s reversal.

“The lack of funding previously thought to be available was not,” he said.

Despite receiving 37 letters of objections from local traders and no letters in support, Mr Bettio said that there was “appetite” for activation.

A report prepared for councillors said the department was unprepared to support the plans, deeming it “unsuitable” under the funding stream proposed by the council.

Eddie Yunan, who has owned the Florentine Boutique on Puckle St for 35 years, described the putative road closure as “a terrible idea.”

“I’m definitely against it,” Mr Yunan said.

“We’re still in a lull period,” he said.

Mr Yunan said no one from the council had approached him over the plans to close the street to traffic, which he said would prevent a key demographic of customers from visiting the destination.