Proserpine Main Street Upgrade

Firstly, I am thrilled to see the proposed plans for Proserpine.

My concerns involve bringing new business into Proserpine. I have a building and business at 79 Main Street, right next to the old Council building that has been demolished recently. We operate a children's retail store, Cherrie Baby. Before we opened the store we were told by Council that we must install a ramp for disability access into our store, as well as disabled toilet facilities. We were not allowed to open our shop unless we did both of those things. This came at a huge cost to us. I fully understand though that people with disability have these requirements to go about their daily lives. I am very clear on that.

In the past 12 months I have been visited by two separate people who were wanting to open a cafe in our town after Cafe 22 was destroyed by the cyclone. Both of these people have told me that they were unable to do so because of Council's disability access laws as none of the existing buildings comply with these laws. This means that we have now lost two potential new businesses in Proserpine, and they are only the ones I am aware of. We cannot afford to be chasing new businesses out of our town!

I note that the footpath is going to be redone in the Concept Plan. I would love to see some discussion and thought put in to see if it is possible to improve the disability access into any of the existing buildings in Proserpine when the footpath is done. Would it also be possible to install some public toilets, with disabled facilities, somewhere in the Main Street so that business owners could possibly use those to satisfy Council requirements? It is incredible how many people come into our shop just to use our toilet as they know we have one here now.

We have several empty shops in our Main Street and surrounds. It would be an incentive for people to open new businesses if Council could help make compliance a little easier.

I would like to see a rooftop viewing platform/café, maybe this could be incorporated into council's new adminstration building with a possibly a seperate elevator or stair access for the public also a possiblity if the Entertainment Centre is demolished and rebuilt, other sites along the Main Street are ripe for redevelopment such as the CRT site (small building but big block of land), the old Main Roads site, the Mill managers ground... emphasis should be on developing these into possibly accomodation and or restaraunt/bar precincts.

Powerlines need to be put underground from the highway to the railway line and in future possibly surrounding streets like Herbert and Chapman Street. The uniform footpaths should also extend from Main Street to Nissan, both sides of Mill Street and to the railway line on both sides involving the removal of the brick path outside the Mill managers office down to West End. The footpaths should be modern and pleasing to the eye, no plain concrete or small brick paving, they should also include bright color changing lighting in them like I have seen in many other towns. I love the idea of digital kiosks!! What a way to set our town apart from others and provide easy realtime information that are better then static signage that can't be interacted with, we live in a modern age so it would be madness not to take full advantage of technology.

Trellises installed in some locations with jasmine, wisteria, trumpet vine possible plants to include, these would look great in the laneways and other locations an example is the back of BP.

A speaker system playing music would add vibrancy to the street.

Please make seats face towards the road and not have the back to the road, the section between Chapman & Herbert Street currently has this configuration and no one likes using the seats as they are facing towards the shops and get sun and rain on them, they should be facing towards the road.

Better designed bins that get cleaned more so they don't look so grubby, the little 'roof' over the bins shouldn't be used as people don't like having to reach in and possibly touching unhygenic surfaces.

Reduce size of roundabouts to make traffic flow better, they are physically too big for some vehicles resulting in cars driving into garden beds etc.

Have facades repaired and painted! Emphasis on use of Pastel colours to provide a bright happy look.

Allow the use of digital signage on awnings and facades to liven up the streetscape at night, also upgrade the street signage for main street and herbert, main street and chapman and main street and mill street to the light up (lightbox) signage that is seen in urban areas, it is not good for navigation that these signs are not lit at night.

I love the plan for the water tower I would like to see it lit as brightly as possible to become a beacon from a great distance, it should also be incorporated into events with fireworks for the show and at NYE, countdowns to major events could be displayed on it etc.

Consider linking the Main Street to the coffee farm north of the river via an elevated green pedestrian bridge from mill street that would rise over the mill yards and cross the river and connect directly to the coffee farm and farmers markets, it would reconnect the river to the town (the town has little connection to it) this should be championed by council and additional funding obtained from a variety of sources. This would be a major game changer.

The street should have charging points for phones and other devices, these could be integrated into the digital kiosks possibly?

The garden bed at the end of blair street that will have trees removed should be turned into a water feature with jumping jets and lightshow at night, this would make an impact at the entrance to the town.

Why not look at lighting up buildings like the churches? They aren't lit at night and would look amazing if lit up. The bells should also be automated and be made to ring during the day, maybe council could help obtain a grant to do this? We would be one of the few towns in the state with bells ringing out at key times (during the day only)

Encourage the rebuilding of the Entertainment Centre into a much larger multi-level facility that can better cater to the Whitsunday Community, the new facility should have at least 2 stages and a major conference facility. The cenotaph should also be relocated to Pioneer Park as the space outside the entertainment centre is too small for Anzac day crowds and should be used as space for the new facility. The rebuilding of the courthouse and police station into modern, larger more stately facilities should be pushed for to improve their functions and the streetscape as they are tired and negatively affect the amenity of the street.

Don't use cordylines use something with colour like the suggested tibouchinas, why would you use something that has been done many times before and failed eah time to improve the look of the street? Learn from mistakes don't repeat time and time again. Do not use palms either as they are not shady and make a mess which just causes more work for council's outdoor team, they could be maintaining infrastructure and cleaning as apposed to picking up fronds.

I hope the project starts as soon as possible.

What a fantastic effort by Council to get the plans to this stage: congrats! I have concerns about the trees on the roundabout, street corners by the roundabout and adjacent to the pedestrian crossings. This is similar to Victoria Street in Mackay and visibility is an issue there, so potentially may be here too. I'd like to see any vegetation on the roundabout kept low so that even small cars can see right across the top and see oncoming traffic in all directions without maintenance of the vegetation being an issue. Street trees are wonderful and a definite asset to the town but only when traffic and pedestrian visibility is not being compromised, remembering that small cars need to be considered too not just 4WDs. Lovely shady areas around town are wonderful and I'm all for planting trees where there is space. Some of our street intersections are already compromised by foliage/hedges/trees so let's be careful this time and get the Main Street right. I love Biggsy's idea of a signed walkway from Pioneer Park to the Museum. Wumpy's idea of a restaurant with outdoor seating on the old Shell site sounds great too. Westy has some really good ideas; love the idea of murals like Sheffield in Tasmania, the old Telstra building, and cutouts in the awnings to allow trees to grow in the Main Street. So many clever ideas... Thanks Council for opening it up to the people. :)

What great feedback Westy19. I agree with it all.
Don't forget plenty of shade for the seating!
One thing that really saddens me about this entire concept is that while the importance of our culture, history etc is noted, one of the big omissions is any connection to the great local museum which houses so much incredible material and which could be utilised as a drawcard to our town. What a lost opportunity. Why not have a signed pathway/walkway from Pioneer Park down to the museum - have boards along the way with information about the town so that people can read/ interact along the way. Why waste this great asset. And petition the Main Roads to get rid of that stupid concrete traffic island that deters most people from driving in. The council should be using this to enhance their project.

Improvement is a great thing! But thought needs to be given to proposed planting’s restricting visibility for traffic and overhanging new planting’s forcing high( trucks/buses)to travel in the Center of the road....

I agree with all that Westy19 has said, great suggestions. Something also needs to be done with old Shell servo at the southern entrance to the town. It’s a eyesore and either needs to be demolished or repurposed for other use; a restaurant with outdoor seating would be great and draw in passing trade. It doesn’t promote an invitation to our town. Wumpy56

It would be great to be more pedestrian friendly, more shade and pram friendly. Also, increase ease of physical activity, bike paths would be great! Especially for kids/increase access to water park.

Needs to be done. Please make the street happy and lively and lots of trees at roundabouts and the crossings.

Just some ideas...
1. Vibrant & Modern
2. No more power poles!
3. No more cracked concrete/broken & lifted bricks - a high quality durable uniform surface that looks attractive and has lighting inbuilt.
4. I love the plans to light the water tower up and project video onto it would be fantastic to see and provide much needed visual interest at night.
5. I would like to see all the laneways become vibrant well maintained spaces with coffee shops/lighting/music!! and integrated into events like the Christmas Street Fair and new events like Italian or Greek Festival, Chinese New Year.
6. I would like to see Main Street buildings be repainted in bright pastel colors and discourage the dark colors.. (think Fausts/Fresh Fields/Metropole). I would also like to see them repaired (before painting is done obviously) (there are too many cracks, bad drainage, rusting roof's, peeling paint, damaged signage).
7. I would like to see more shady mature trees and less messy trees like palms that don't provide much shade, drop fronds and attract bats! brighter shrubs like tibouchinas should be planted instead of the same old cordylines that have graced the street countless times before and not added much color or interest to it. The trees should be planted in the footpaths if possible... maybe cutouts could be made in the awnings to encompass the trunk with the canopy above the awning.. this would avoid the previous complaints from business owners about signage not being visible. Mature trees should be sourced to provide almost instant shade.
8. I think digital way-finding screens could be installed in key locations in the street to help provide tourists with mapping or wayfinding, store directory, history information, event and disaster information - they would also allow advertising for local businesses here is an example of them: https://www.kingman.com.au/products/digital-kiosk/
They have key advantages over static signage and could be installed when the power is put underground. They should seriously be considered and installed, they will help a lot!!
9. Remove palm trees from Pioneer Park and replace with Jacaranda and Poinciana that provide color and shade!! also install more cold drinking fountains and replace the shelters in time with better design and better lighting, consider installing a fountain as a feature in what is really a featureless park.
10. Make sure hoop pines on entry into the town are lit at night.
11. Keep parking signage in the street to a minimum to avoid clutter. Remove the bulky sign on the footpath outside the entertainment centre near the pine tree and replace with a digital kiosk, not many know what this sign refers too.
12. I would like to see something done about the old Telstra Exchange it is opposite the Entertainment Centre and is what is known as a "Ghost Building" it sits there and doesn't contribute to the town, it was last used regularly in the 1990's when it housed phone booths, it could possibly be surplus to Telstra's use? If so why not inquire about turning it into a centre dedicated to Lake Proserpine offering information brochures, souvenirs, displaying promotional videos and make it a departure point for a possible future courtesy bus that transports people to the new facilities at the dam and back.
13. Introduce Free Wifi in the Main Street and surrounding areas in partnership with Telstra.
14. Lobby for major re-development/reconstruction of the courthouse and police station to enable better integration of these functions with the streets-cape.
15. Improve council carparks with new lighting, smooth bitumen surface, shady trees and regular cleaning.
16. Remove the plastic tactile tiles that have broken and lifted at crossings and replace with more durable material like high quality metal.
17. Install speakers in the street to play music to bring a more vibrant atmosphere, this is done in Ayr in its Main Street and is a very cool feature.
18. Upgrade Bus Stop at Mill with contemporary furniture that is welcoming, install lighting to the bus stop, also replace the nasty 1960's toilet block.
19. Remove the bollards that are on the footpaths around the two roundabouts.
20. Encourage more street art/graffiti art
21. More drinking fountains on both sides of the street.
22. Extend Footpath from NAB around to Op Shop and extend Footpath from Graze Cafe past the Proserpine Motel.
23. Install a digital clock and temperature gauge/digital advertising jumbo screen in redeveloped Dobbins Lane, could also be used to display video and images during events.