A PROPOSED 13-storey apartment tower just off Dubbo's main street has made slow progress since it was first approved in December 2018, but the base of the building is now gradually taking shape.
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The tower is the brainchild of Dubbo-based John Walkom, his brother Kevin and their friend, retail giant Gerry Harvey, and is worth $35 million.
The co-ordinating agent for the building, Bob Berry Real Estate's Jane Donald, said in 2023 that "the whole CBD will change in atmosphere once there are permanent residents living there and we expect this to have a flow-on effect to businesses offering food, drinks and entertainment".
The delevopment is among several planned for the CBD, but how does our city compare to others in the central west when it comes to progress?
In Bathurst there has been debate about whether the CBD there is ailing - and, if so, what can be done about it - a quick whip around neighbouring cities shows some hits and misses when it comes to revitalising commercial centres.
Businessman Peter Rogers caused plenty of conversation when he said this week that the "dark and dingy" Bathurst city centre risked becoming a ghost town.
It comes after a number of recent business closures - including a bakery in a prominent location opposite the post office - and as a proposed, long-talked-about multi-storey integrated medical centre in Howick Street remains up in the air.
In Orange construction on an apartment complex on the site of the city's old hospital is said to be imminent.
The project at 103 Prince Street - three blocks off the main Summer Street - will comprise a six-storey complex with 60 units, 16 adjacent two-storey terraces and a public park.
Under the latest timeline, completion is on track for late 2025.
Goulburn Mulwaree Council, it was reported this week, is considering whether its CBD can accommodate more apartments, either above shops or in separate developments.
Environment and planning director, Scott Martin, said the council was working on a strategy to cater to a growing population by increasing residential density.
He said the focus was on preserving the main Auburn Street's character and landmark structures such as the AMP building and the post office, but the strategy would explore opportunities for more housing at other sites, including between CBD streets and behind the building envelope.
Changes could be made to zonings, height limits, floor space requirements and lot sizes, among other aspects.
"We see it as a once-in-a-generation chance to shape the CBD but not undermine what we've done in the past," Mr Martin said.
Space invaders
AN attempt to transform one of Orange's CBD side streets was officially abandoned at an Orange City Council meeting in October 2023.
Trees and parking spaces were removed and outdoor dining zones were installed in Lords Place, just off Summer Street, to "transform the area into a pedestrian-friendly precinct", but it proved controversial and unpopular with the businesses in the street.
"I'm one of those ones that I'll put my hand up and say I voted for this makeover originally because I was looking forward to seeing the area become vibrant," councillor Glenn Floyd said at the October 2023 meeting.
"I can remember saying at the time I would not be happy if redevelopment of the Ophir car park was not forthcoming. And we also took into account that if the project did not sit well with the community, it could be reversed."
Bathurst has been talking about a multi-storey car park for years, in locations ranging from Carrington Park to the RSL car park to the Neighbourhood Centre car park.
In the eye of the beholder
LITHGOW City Council has announced the second stage of what it is calling its Main Street Restoration project.
Proposed works will include the continuation of brick banding, shotblast concrete and bluestone edged pavement "which will be softened by vibrant planter pots and trellis planters interspersed with new seating in key locations along the street".
Lithgow mayor Maree Statham told the Lithgow Mercury recently that the council had hired an engineer from Sydney for the refurbishment, which will be completed in sections.
"We're going to do everything we can not to deter people from visiting any of the shops in the main street; we want those stores to be open," she said.
A 2020 Cowra CBD rejuvenation project, meanwhile, involved replaced the footpath pavement, installing new street furniture, awning lighting and landscaping and improving the connection with Squire Park and providing disabled access into businesses.
In Parkes, a 10.5-kilometre, $187 million bypass project is well underway that will eventually take Newell Highway traffic out of the centre of the town.
At the sod-turning in November 2021, then-mayor Ken Keith said the Parkes community had come to accept "that we need a bypass", but "what it does mean ... is that we need to promote Parkes as a destination on the Newell Highway".
Touch the sky
FOR sheer ambition, it would be hard to go past the two towers of apartments, one six storeys high and the other 17 storeys high, approved for a spot beside the Murrumbidgee River in central Wagga in early 2020.
Two penthouses were sold for $1.8 million and $1.9 million at the top of the planned 17-storey building, but, in the end, the $21 million development did not go ahead.
PRD Wagga managing director Simon Freemantle told the Daily Advertiser in 2020 that it had been in Wagga Wagga City Council's "Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan for a number of years now that they want infill housing and denser living in the CBD".
"It's to try and increase the popularity of shopping in the CBD to probably combat online shopping sales as well," he said at the time.
