Observations
List of businesses in Springwood
Save Our Springwood
website
Save Out Springwood has started a website at:
www.SaveOurSpringwood.org.au
Better Future Form looks
at ways to improve the Blue Mountains economy
Details
Council to discuss the project plan on Tuesday 17
July
One option is to abandon
or modify the tender process.
Details
Timeline
Council is currently preparing a
Request for Detailed Proposals, which will be
sent to the three developers in 2009.
The developers will then submit their Detailed Proposals, which
will be evaluated by Council, and a
final decision made.
Click here for:
-
The
timeline,
which shows the overall process.
-
The
project plan, which shows the steps to
be taken, between now and 2009, to prepare the Request for
Detailed Proposals.
This plan will apparently be sent to the 15 July Council
meeting for approval.
-
The
Council motion, which set up this
procedure.
Jamieson says Council is proceeding with the tenders
On Friday, 27 June, Brodie Luchetti,
a member of the Save Our Springwood Committee called Mark
Jamieson, one of the short listed developers.
She asked if he had heard any
information from Council indicating they are not proceeding.
He said "Absolutely not".
She asked if he had any affiliation
with any specific supermarket chain.
He said: he's independent from any specific supermarket, but
this is not to say that his tender doesn't have a retail aspect.
We might not see any more information from the
developers
We might not see any more
information from the developers because they don't want their
ideas used by the competition.
It doesn't have to be this way. Click here for
details.
Coles, Jamieson, and Woolworths on the shortlist
Coles
and
Jamieson have made
proposals for all three sites.
Woolworths proposes a supermarket and specialty shops at the Civic
Centre site, and relocation of the community facilities to the Southern
Carpark.
Silverton
was interested in the Civic Centre site. Click here for
Silverton's plans.
A Calkos wanted to expand Franklins.
Click the links for details.
Supermarket prices
We did price comparison
between supermarkets in Springwood, Winmalee, Blaxland and Penrith.
The prices of individual items varied, but the total cost of a typical shopping
basket was almost the same.
Advisory Committee
There are 14 community members on the
Advisory Committee, plus the three local councillors.
Go to the Advisory Committee
page for their contact details, and other information.
The next meeting will probably be in mid May, but meetings are
closed to the public.
Poll
We conducted a
poll, which showed that
most people wanted the expressions of interest exhibited for 1-3
months before the decision was made on the shortlist. The decision
was made in a confidential meeting, without a public exhibition.
- Coles has made proposals for the Northern and Southern Carparks and the
Civic Centre site.
- Jamieson has also made proposals for all three sites.
- Woolworths proposes a supermarket and specialty shops at the Civic
Centre site, and relocation of the community facilities to the Southern
Carpark.
See:
Council's resolution,
and summaries from the expressions of interest from
Coles,
Jamieson, and
Woolworths.
Walter Kullen, the contact person for Coles, said he had no comments before
the shortlist is decided.
He did say "Perception tends to overtake reality"
John Langley said Woolworths had no comment at this time.
He is planning to use a standard shopping list to compare:
Coles in Penrith and Winmalee
Franklins in Penrith and Springwood
IGA in Blaxland and Springwood
Woolworths in Penrith
He says this will take 2-3 weeks.
Click here for details.
The first meeting of the Springwood Town Centre Advisory Committee will be on
Monday, 18 February from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at
the Springwood Civic Centre.
Only the committee members were invited, but the committee can consider
whether observers can attend future meetings.
The agenda is expected to be sent out by 8
February. Members can raise issues on the night that they would like to
have considered.
A Calkos Pty Ltd owns the Franklins supermarket site, and they submitted one of
the five expressions of interest.
In their submission to Council in September (details), they said they had been trying for ten years
to amalgamate some of the adjoining land in the Northern Carpark with the
Franklins site.
They said: "by adjoining the current Franklins supermarket site and therefore
enlarging the current tenancy we will not be destroying any local business by
bringing in a third supermarket".
They also said: "We also believe that as part of the development on the northern site
the
existing civic amenities should remain."
I spoke with George Calokerinos, who is listed as one of the Directors of A
Calkos.
He said he is interested in trying to do what the community wants.
Peter Beale, at Silverton, said they are interested in the Civic
Center site.
He said they are planning a non-intrusive development, with
minimal changes to the existing buildings on the site.
There might be an expansion of the library.
It looks like they are thinking of creating a plaza, that is
level with the current entrance to the Civic Centre.
He said it will include restaurants and an open space,
which could be used for things like a farmers market.
He said this is being done with a retailer, which he didn't
want to name, but he said it isn't Coles or Woolworths.
This is a joint proposal between Silverton Group Pty Ltd and
Broadholdings Pty Ltd.
- A. Calkos Pty Ltd - Seems to be a small family business. Seem to be
involved in a small arcade in Penrith.
- Coles
- Jamieson Property Group Pty Ltd - Unable to get much information so far.
- Silverton Group Pty Ltd and Broadholdings Pty Ltd (joint proposal) - a
major builder of shopping malls and other facilities.
- Woolworths
See: Details on Tenderers
- Fourteen applications were received, and the
Councillors have decided to appoint all of them to the
Committee.
- The names will apparently be released late in
January.
- The first meeting will apparently be in mid to
late February.
- Applicants apparently are supposed to send their acceptances to Janne
Yardy (jyardy@bmcc.nsw.gov.au)
- See also:
Acceptance letter
- The Technical Evaluation Panel is now examining the
Expressions of Interest.
Their Evaluation Report is expected in March,
but it could be earlier, because there are only five
submissions.
- The next step is for Council to decide which, if any, of the submissions are
asked to make a detailed proposal.
- Before Council makes this decision, there should be a consultation period.
- It should probably include all of the non-confidential information
in all of the Expressions of Interest.
- And the consultation should probably last for 2 months.
In an informal poll I conducted, I found that most people wanted a 1-3 month
consultation.
The usual period, for DAs, seems to be around 1 month, but this is a complex and
especially important decision, so people should have more time to discuss it.
- The Call for Expressions of Interest went out on
5 November.
- The EOIs must be submitted by 14 December.
- The public will then be told the names of the
submitters.
- The EOIs will be sent to an Evaluation Committee,
consisting of Council staff, a representative from the Department of Lands,
and an industry expert.
- No one else will be allowed to see the EOIs.
- The Committee is expected to issue a public Evaluation Report
in March 2008
- It is expected to include some information from
some of the relevant EOIs.
- There will probably also be a confidential supplement,
which will be sent to the Councillors.
- The next Council meeting might then decide to put the
information on public exhibition.
- Council would then decide which of the EOIs, if any,
are asked to provide a detailed proposal.
- There will then be another confidential period while
the detailed proposals are evaluated.
- There might then be a public exhibition.
- Council would then decide if they wish to
accept any of the detailed proposals.
- See also:
- The Council land in Springwood is now officially for sale.
- The call for expressions of interest was issued on Monday, 5
November. The Northern Carpark, Southern Carpark, and Civic
Centre sites are for sale.
- The expressions of interest will include concept drawings,
which will provide a picture of what they have in mind.
- These are due back to Council by 14 December.
The Council is expected to decide, at their March 2008
meeting,
which, if any, of the applicants will be invited to submit a
detailed proposal.
- The date for the final decision wasn't specified.
- See:
Call for expressions of interest
Many of them are in less desirable locations, because they are run down, and
you have to walk upstairs to get to them, or they away from the foot traffic on
Macquarie Road.
See: List of businesses in Springwood - the
Vacancies say "(Vacant)" in the Tenant Name column.
While counting the vacancies, I have been talking to most of the businesses.
Here are some of their comments.
- Business conditions.
- Many said they are getting by, and that it has been
flat for many years.
- Some said they were doing really well; these seemed
to be the shops that look attractive and appeal to the niche of
customers they cater to.
- Many said Springwood has "ups and downs"; it would
be helpful to find out what causes conditions to fluctuate.
- Many said the Winmalee shopping centre
reduced their trade initially, but it has come back. Their was
also more competition from the expansion of the Penrith
shopping centre, and improvement in the highway, which makes it easier
to shop there.
- Some said they their industry was changing, like
digital photography replacing film. They also mentioned
increased competition, with supermarkets selling some drugs,
and internet pharmacies.
- Many mentioned the high rents, and said there were
a small number of owners, who were willing to have some
of their properties vacant in order to collect high rents elsewhere.
- More shops seem to be closed on Sunday than before.
- There seem to be fewer shoppers around.
- Shoppers seem to be concerned about petrol prices
and interest rates, partly because of the media
attention it has been getting.
- Many of the vacancies are in bad locations.
- Many of the franchises, like Bakers
Delight, seem to be doing well - perhaps because they have loyal customers,
and have a standardised attractive appearance.
- A few were in run down offices above the shops, and would
like attractive convenient office space, if it was
affordable.
- Suggestions for improvement
- 1 hour parking limit on Macquarie Road should be enforced.
Ranger seems to come by very infrequently. Some proprietors have often
parked their cars in front of their shops for many hours. This
interferes with the shoppers. Most shops have parking places in back for
staff.
- Fix up the properties. Some said the owners don't
seem eager to do this. Perhaps some improvements by the tenants
themselves could be encouraged and assisted.
- Fill vacancies with short term leases. Lifeline is
on a short term lease, and is supposed to move out if the owner can get
someone to pay the asking price. This might be a way to provide
temporary space for community organisations. I heard about an
organisation, called "No Vacancy" that put artists temporarily into
vacant spaces in Melbourne, which added life to the city.
- Find businesses to fill unmet needs. For example: a
full service locksmith, and a cobbler
(shoe repairer). People go elsewhere for these services, which draws
trade away from Springwood.
- Maintain the streetscape. Keep the gardens along
Macquarie Road in good shape. Repair street furniture promptly when
damaged.
- Share assets between businesses. Some businesses
have specialised equipment which is only used part of the time.
- Negotiate with busses to stop here. This would be
an ideal place for them to stop for morning tea; it is midway to
Katoomba. If we could provide then with a place to stop, with tables and
chairs and toilets, and coffee making facilities, it would provide
business and vibrancy to Springwood.
- A notice board telling people about the businesses in town.
It could list all the businesses, with a map, so people know what is
around. Perhaps a featured business each week.
- Build nicer offices above the shops. The ones above
the shops on Macquarie Road look quite run down. The malls on Raymond
Street provide an example of what good office space could look like.
- Other comments
- A few said the Winmalee mall was unattractive for
business. Some things that were said:
- The mall requires that tenants be franchises.
- They are charged $100 for every hour they are closed when they
aren't supposed to be.
- Tenants are unhappy because the number of shoppers
is less than predicted.
- Coles only pays $50/m2/year, when the rest of the shops pay
400-600.
- Coles is a category 5 shop (6 is the most expensive), and has
limited selection.
- There are many bank branches here because this is
midway between Penrith and Katoomba, and a logical place for them.
Kevin Frappell told me he asked to General Manager to provide him with the
full text of the submissions.
And Terri Hamilton told me she asked Council staff to provide this to all the
Councillors.
And Jim Angel just told me this is what the Councillors will be getting.
This is an added burden on Paul Cashel, who is busy writing the summary,
which will be included in the business paper.
But it should be pretty easy to provide, since many of the submissions are
already in digital form, and the rest are already scanned in.
The public might not be allowed to see the full text of the
submissions because they are a communication between the submitter and Council.
If people wish their submission to be made public, they should send them to
MichaelAaronson@BigPond.com,
and I will post them on this website.
On 2 October I talked to someone who works for the Baby Clinic in the
Northern Carpark.
She said Council had discussed the possibility of moving them to behind the Red
Cross building in Buckland Park (where the War Memorial is).
Informally, she told me the Clinic thinks their present location is better.
They have written a submission to Council, which will reflect their official
position.
On 2 October I saw three mothers, with their children, in the Council
playground in the Northern Carpark.
I asked them what they thought about the possibility it might be moved to
Buckland Park.
They all said the present location was better, because it is in the centre of
town.
On Tuesday 18 October, I walked around the Winmalee Mall, and talked to the
staff at the shops.
- The tavern next to the mall is locally owned and run. Their
bottle shop has lost significant business to Coles.
- Gloria Jeans Coffee is also locally owned and run.
- The Deli/Cafe is also locally owned and run.
- The manager on duty at the Chemist said "No comment" and referred
me to the centre management upstairs.
I went upstairs to find the centre management closed. The sign on the
door referred me to a Sydney phone number, which was answered by an
answering machine.
- The coffee shop in the centre of the mall is locally owned and
run, and I have been told they were very helpful with local events, like the
Cancer Council Daffodil Day.
- The manager at the newsagent said her only comment was that she
was very unhappy about the opposition to the Winmalee mall that came from
the people in Springwood. She said people should be allowed to make a
living.
- The Reject Shop is owned by a company in Melbourne. They have a
corporate structure, where a regional manager works out of Sydney. That
manager advertised and conducted interviews to select the manager of their
Winmalee shop.