Suburban shopping strips right across Brisbane – which have grown in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic – are benefitting from a key Schrinner Council investment program.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said his Council’s $10 million Village Precinct Projects initiative had been rolled out at the right time as more people worked from home and took greater advantage of local cafés, restaurants and stores.
Cr Schrinner said he was proud of the Village Precinct initiative which was revitalising suburban shopping areas that had been part of the fabric of the Brisbane community for generations.
“We are unashamedly about making Brisbane’s suburbs even better which is why 86 per cent of our last budget was dedicated to building better infrastructure and delivering better services to our suburbs,” said the Lord Mayor.
“That budget included ongoing funding for our incredibly popular Village Precinct Projects initiative which is revitalising neighbourhood shopping strips right across the city.
“People love these local shopping strips but some of them need a bit of sprucing up to attract new and exciting tenants along with extra people.
“So in consultation with local communities we have been designing and delivering public amenity improvements, such as new artworks, additional trees, street furniture, drinking fountains and footpath improvements.
“This is part of our plan to make Brisbane even better by creating a city of vibrant neighbourhoods with liveable places for locals and visitors alike.
“These improvements have been particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic given more people have looking to their local area for dining and shopping options while they’ve been working from home and travelling less.”
The next suburban shopping strip revamp will be in Upper Mt Gravatt’s Lumley Street. Residents can have their say on what they want to see by visiting Council’s website, with consultation open until 20 February 2022.
The Lumley Street initiative follows the delivery of 14 other projects with another eight underway.