By Cara Waters
Melbourne lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood says the city’s high streets outside the CBD are run-down and neglected and will get a $28 million boost if he is elected.
Wood, the council’s former deputy mayor, said he wanted to spruce up Southbank Promenade, fast-track bluestone paving along Lygon street, provide more greenery and lighting on Errol Street, install planter boxes on Wellington Parade and upgrade the streetscape along Racecourse Road.
Lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood on Lygon Street in Carlton.Credit: Chris Hopkins
Wood was deputy lord mayor to Robert Doyle and acting lord mayor at the City of Melbourne after Doyle resigned following a sexual harassment scandal. Wood ran for mayor in 2020 but was defeated by Sally Capp who resigned from the post earlier this year.
“We can’t let these proud streets like Lygon Street, Errol Street, Southbank Promenade, these sorts of places, we can’t let them flounder because that really impacts Melbourne’s vitality and vibrancy,” Wood said. “What’s wrong with our high streets at the moment is they just seem to be run-down and neglected.”
Wood said he was concerned about streets with planter boxes where the plants have died, or where footpaths have uneven surfaces from having services dug up with a patchwork of asphalt and bitumen.
“It’s just that general feeling that they are not getting the love that our high streets deserve,” he said.
Wood said he was concerned there had been a “top-down” approach from the City of Melbourne and wanted to work with businesses and customers to revitalise the streets.
“There’s been a lot of top-down public infrastructure investment that hasn’t always delivered on the outcomes that that were intended and sometimes has actually caused greater issues,” he said. “The bottom end of Elizabeth Street is a place where lots of money’s gone into it.”
Wood said in Elizabeth Street, green astro turf had been put in and then ripped up, and street furniture had been installed and then removed.
“I think we need to avoid this, this misspent ratepayer money, by getting it as right as we can in the first place, by working with the businesses in the area,” he said.
Sam Di Nucci operates a newsagent on Errol Street in North Melbourne and said the street was suffering, with his trade last month a third of what he did the previous month.
“It is a bit of a ghost town, not only that the street looks run-down, there is nothing bright about it, it needs lighting, it needs trees or flower pots to decorate it a little bit,” he said. “Anything like that we would be in favour of.”
Di Nucci said Errol Street had suffered from office workers not returning to nearby offices after lockdown but acknowledged this was outside the lord mayor’s remit.
“North Melbourne was a hub with a lot of offices in the surrounding area, and the staff helped keep the businesses afloat as well as the locals,” he said. “I don’t know who has the powers to change any of that.”
In Lygon Street a recurring complaint from traders has been high crime levels with business owners calling on the City of Melbourne to install security cameras.
Wood said the $28 million would not include security cameras but “our city safety policy which we’ll be coming out with soon will absolutely involve things like CCTV and additional work with Victoria Police to ensure safe streets”, he said.
Lord Mayor Nick Reece has said he will install an additional 200 security cameras across Melbourne if he wins the mayoral election.
Voters will begin receiving voting packs, which include ballot papers and candidate statements, in the mail from next week. The votes must be posted by Friday, October 25, to be counted.
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