Slow traffic solution could save mall, says lobby group

Commercial sales director with MMJ Wollongong, Travis Machan was part of a group representing businesses and other stakeholders in the mall that commissioned an independent report for Wollongong Council on ways to 'fix' the mall.

At Monday night's council meeting, councillors voted to look into ways to bring some life back into the mall.

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Mr Machan said the mall had been bucking the real estate trend in the city - and not in a good way.

"Over the last 10 years any of the properties sold or transacted I've been across 90 per cent of them so I have intimate knowledge of them ... and there's been a downward trend over that time," Mr Machan said.

"It's a significant thing to acknowledge given the overwhelming growth in the market throughout Wollongong. If you look at any other property sale that's occurred residentially, industrially and commercially outside the mall precinct and everything has gone up."

He also suggested the mall was too big for the city.

"What we're offering is one of the largest retail mall precincts in the Southern Hemisphere," he said.

"It is twice as long as Pitt Street Mall, it's twice as long as Melbourne's mall yet we don't have the population density to support that type of environment."

While acknowledging there has been a shift to online shopping Mr Machan said opening the mall to "managed slow-moving traffic" would increase the range of uses for shops.

"Our mall currently only trades nine to five basically," he said.

"The idea of having it open to traffic in that regard allows for the street to be operating 24 hours a day.

"That allows for alternative retail uses other than just your stereotypical clothes shops. If you want a restaurant to be there, are they going to be there in an area that's closed at night?"

Mr Machan said re-introducing traffic wouldn't mean ripping up the mall as the pavers there now were engineered to take the weight of vehicles.

In addition to re-opening the mall, the report also recommended widening the range of businesses operating along that strip, including an anchor tenant in the lower half, improving access for all modes of transport and upgrading the visual amenity of the area.

Mr Machan praised the decision at Monday night's council meeting as a "great and significant step" but wasn't looking to drive a wedge between councillors and retailers.

"We are looking at working with council - it's not us and them," he said.

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