FITZROY St business-owners are predicting some lean months ahead, as council’s multi-million dollar pedestrian mall upgrade hits their bottom line.
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Tamworth Regional Council mayor Col Murray met with businesses in the construction zone on Wednesday, where concerns and frustrations were laid bare.
Cr Murray said there was a sense of “long term gain for some short term pain” among the business owners he spoke to.
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“It’s pretty much the same concerns that came up at other stages of the CBD beautification,” he said.
Scarf Room owner Leonie Carroll told The Leader she had lost more than half her usual takings since the works got underway.
Ms Carroll’s retail shop also features a hairdressing salon.
“It’s lucky I’ve got the hairdressers or I would’ve shut down by now,” she said.
It’s hard to tell for Ms Carroll whether the pedestrian mall will benefit her business once the works are done.
“I can’t say it will be fabulous once it’s done,” she said.
“Because we had good passing foot traffic beforehand.”
She was happy to get a visit from council, as well as support which has been offered in the form of social media and radio advertising, but a question remained among the businesses about compensation.
“Maybe if they cut rates for the owners of the building and that could reduce my rent,” she said.
Ms Carroll said she has looked at insurance, but conceded a claim would increase her premium the following year.
Cr Murray said he didn’t “believe council would volunteer any compensation”.
“It’s a matter for the shop owners to pursue that,” he said.
Richard McMahon from the Homestead Cafe said his business was getting by.
“We’re managing, we do a lot of outside catering,” he said.
“We’ve lost all of our out of town customers, but our regulars remain loyal.”
Mr McMahon said it was “short-term pain for a long-term gain” and that his business was used to dealing with an evolving business landscape.
“When we opened, 25 years ago, there were only three coffee shops in town,” he said.
“We know how to get around, we took a hit when for six months when Centrepoint first opened and when Hopscotch opened.
He joked Homestead rolled with the punches “better than McGregor”.
Council said the Fitzroy St project is running on time and budget and tracking towards completion by December.
The upgrade is worth $4.5 million.