The council agreed at its meeting this week to move forward with stage four of the process, which concentrates on Fitzroy St and Bicentennial Park – but not before further consultation with business and property owners, Tamworth Taxis and the City Centre Working Group over the three options for the design upgrade.

The recommendation before council had been to endorse the preparation of costings for the third option – a change to one-way vehicle access on Fitzroy St between Kable Ave and Peel St with the establishment of a green space on either side of the carriageway – but when it came to a decision, councillors agreed more discussion with affected businesses was necessary.

In the community consultation session prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, several Fitzroy St businessmen called on the council to defer a decision on the street’s upgrade, arguing the “serious and far-reaching” ramifications were reason enough for further discussion.

Patrick O’Halloran, of RJ O’Halloran and Co solicitors in Fitzroy St, said the preferred option would result in “a spectacular loss of car parks” in the area, hurting local businesses.

His concerns were echoed by local property owner Tony Summers, who said the removal of any on-street parking at this stage would be “an economic and financial disaster to small business”.

“Until a multi-storey car park is built in the CBD, we can’t afford to lose car parks,” he said.

Option three was identified as the preferred option at a community street party in Fitzroy St on September 20 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Peel St Beautification Project, where participants were also asked for their opinion on the Fitzroy St upgrade.

The three options have also been available for comment online, with option three the favourite again.

But councillors agreed more feedback was appropriate and endorsed a motion from Cr Juanita Wilson that further stakeholder meetings take place, with the intention of progressing the upgrade.

Cr Treloar emphasised that it was important to keep the process moving, given it had been going on for two decades.

“This has been on the books for so long it’s getting embarrassing,” he said. 

“I hope we can move forward in a positive fashion.”

The next steps in the consultation and concept development are to occur in the coming weeks.

A further report, including a recommendation for progressing the upgrade, will be presented to council at its meeting on November 10.