The GPT group - developer of the Wollongong Mall and the company behind the delayed $ 311 million Keira street mall extension - has made a last ditch appeal for the Crown street mall to be opened to limited vehicle traffic.
There have been exhaustive public surveys and public opinion is clearly favouring keeping cars out of the mall, but another aspect has received little attention.
When the banks began closing branches and forcing customers to use ATM's Wollongong's northern and central areas saw the establishment of just two banking precincts - the Crown street Mall - and Corrimal.
All the banks concentrated their ATM's close to one another under some form of mutual agreement.
There is no doubt that the Crown street mall is a safe place to visit during the hours the shops are open, but when they close it becomes a very different safety proposition. Few would dispute that in the evening the mall becomes a haven for drunks, drug pushers and juvenile gangs of anti social people.
Not exactly an ideal place for women or the elderly to visit if they need to get money from an ATM !
Not a place that can be accessed without the difficulty of finding a car park and taking a long walk to the selected ATM - and then retracing that journey with withdrawn funds in your wallet or purse.
The concern of the GPT group is obvious. Many people living in the suburbs surrounding central Wollongong will not put themselves at risk by walking though this dangerous area at night to visit an ATM. They prefer using their car and driving to Corrimal, where parking is easy and the ATM streetscape has the safety of car traffic and pedestrians.
Plans are in progress for a massive retail development in Corrimal and the GPT group can clearly see danger to their Crown/Keira streets mall. If Corrimal adopts night trading it would deal a damaging blow to the deserted central Wollongong shopping centre - and all Wolongong council is proposing is a $ 17.8 million redevelopment which will remove the " birdcage " - but leave the mall a deserted " no mans land " at night.
One of the keys to success or failure is making access to ATM's safe - and so far that is not even on the drawing board.
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