Last
night’s Future Melbourne Committee’s approval of new Infrastructure and Car
Parking facilities was indeed a momentous occasion for QVM but it is just a
start.
It
has been 7 years since the first realisation that our market had been neglected,
and significant investment was needed to ensure we were competitive in a very
competitive retail world.
A
few hiccups along the way (most notably the rejection of the primary
underground proposal by Heritage Victoria) and now we have a proposal that will
set a base for progress.
There
have been many contributions to this point including
- the
People’s Panel and the multitude of traders and the wider market community who
contributed to its findings, many of which have been taken up in the new plan.
- QVM
management who have taken up much of the load and championed the needs of the
market.
- CoM and
it’s renewal team who have tirelessly presented and adjusted options to achieve
an outcome.
- City
Councillors who have devoted so much time to QVM matters, suffered the same
frustrations that everyone else has experienced, but continue to remain
positive and up-beat and supportive of the project whilst being mindful of the
impact on traders.
- Traders
who have pushed for progress.
BUT
- this is just a base for moving forward. The retail revolution is not going to
wait for us to get back of house in order. The rest of the retail world is
charging ahead with innovation and consumers are revelling in their new found
power. We have a lot to do. And the WE means traders and management. Traders
need to find new ways to excite their customers and particularly meet their
demands for convenience while management need to provide us with an environment
that allows all that to happen.
I
have the champagne ready but the cork doesn’t come out just yet.
By
Greg Smith