Today’s Age newspaper contains a report on the
Lord Mayor’s re-development funding project involving two 50 storey skyscrapers.
Funding will depend on government approval but in the meantime the report
contains some interesting information on what might follow that approval.
Over the past few years a number of independent
economic assessments have been made on Queen Victoria Market although Trader
Representatives have been unable to get access to them. The Age reports that
they have gained access to an economic assessment through freedom of
information and the content makes interesting reading. Here are the main recommendations
revealed by The Age –
1.
A 6 day trading week.
2.
Uniform hours from Tuesday to Saturday
with later trading on a Friday.
3.
New food products,
consistent with a fresh food and market theme.
4.
Consideration of a new
bar and restaurant.
5.
New event spaces.
We want to stress that these are only
recommendations and we have no reason to doubt management claims that final re-development
will only take place after full consultation with traders. Nevertheless it is interesting
to read what independent economic advisers have recommended to the Melbourne
City Council in the recent past. We will let readers speculate on what each of
those recommendations might mean.