Traders, City of Ballarat and Victoria Police have joined forces to implement a plan for short and medium-term actions to improve the safety, amenity and general experience for community, shoppers and visitors in Little Bridge Street.
These measures are complementary to the current construction works in the adjacent Bridge Mall and help address other priorities of the adopted Bakery Hill Urban Renewal Plan adopted by Council in 2019.
The City of Ballarat is pleased to release concept designs for an upgrade of the Little Bridge Street bus interchange, which include new shelters and waiting spaces. Also included is improved CCTV and improved pedestrian crossing opportunities between the car park and Time Lane.
The works will also bring new outdoor dining spaces, improved landscaping and safer cycling connections to the area.
Funding for the upgrade is currently shared between the City of Ballarat and the Federal Government through a Community Safety Grant of $450,000.
Construction is expected to commence over the next 12 months.
Addressing requests from traders, community members and public transport users for immediate action, the City of Ballarat will commence the first stage of the upgrade shown in the concept plans in the coming weeks.
City of Ballarat Mayor, Cr Des Hudson said a working partnership of traders, City of Ballarat and Victoria Police will improve the area with benefit to businesses, community and public transport users.
"These are practical first steps in a comprehensive plan to upgrade the area and work on the wider and more complex issues that are contributing to anti-social issues in the area", he said.
These initial works will remove redundant and poor-quality infrastructure in the area, most notably the eastern bus shelter, and undertake some short-term amenity improvements including repainting the remaining shelter and other deep clean opportunities.
The eastern bus shelter is expected to be removed in September.
Interim changes to CCTV will assist Victoria Police with surveillance of the area and highlight to users of the space that their actions are monitored and those doing the wrong thing will have evidence recorded.
Victoria Police is also changing its pro-active policing approach in the area to address the small minority responsible for ongoing anti-social behaviour.
Victoria Police Inspector Jason Templar said everyone is committed to doing something about the issues in the area.
"The problem in the Little Bridge Street area is unfortunately created by a minority that impacts the entire city's use of the area," he said.
"We want to make it uncomfortable for those not following the rules and being antisocial, therefore making it comfortable for our community members doing the right thing."
Owner of Wen and Ware, Wen McLachlan said changes to the area are welcomed by the surrounding traders.
"We look forward to the area being welcoming for our regular and new customers to feel safe while shopping locally," she said.
The Community Safety Grant of $450,000 from the Federal Government is a vital part of this upgrade. The scope of those funded works includes new state of the art CCTV to support Victoria Police in their work, whilst also providing for upgraded lighting and physical safety measures.
Federal Member for Ballarat Catherine King said she was pleased to support both the City of Ballarat and the Bridge Mall Traders through the $450,000 Safer Communities grant.
"Little Bridge Street is an area that many community members use, and I'm sure upgrades to make it safer and more welcoming will be appreciated by locals and visitors alike," she said.
As well as the Bridge Mall itself, and improvements to Little Bridge Street, the connections between the areas via Time Lane and Coliseum Walk are also being upgraded as part of the Bridge Mall Redevelopment works.
To view the designs click here.
