PERTH’S retail sector will face some serious challenges if the Perth City Rail Advisory Committee findings support a new railway station on William Street.
PERTH’S retail sector will face some serious challenges if the Perth City Rail Advisory Committee findings support a new railway station on William Street.
However, the WA Retailers’ Association chief executive officer Martin Dempsey said retailers needed to carefully analyse any proposal before pouring cold water on it.
“People are rushing to make what is essentially a commercial analysis,” Mr Dempsey said.
“It happened before, with the extension to the Mitchell Freeway – all of a sudden people were rushing to buy land at what was the last stop. My suggestion is that we give the ideas people a bit more of a chance.”
The Government’s proposal will see all the traffic from the northern and southern lines routed through the new William Street station.
This proposal will dramatically reduce the number of pedestrians moving through the city malls and arcades that radiate out from the footbridge and the city train station.
And it is not just the sole traders – Myer and David Jones, the major retailers in the vicinity, also stand to suffer.
The proposal has so incensed the City of Perth that it has commissioned a report into the most cost-effective route of the railway from the Narrows Bridge to Perth Central Station. It is understood the study looks at both the William Street route and an alternative route up the freeway in front of Parliament House, which would have its own station, before linking back to the central railway station from there.
Industry commentators from both the property and retail sector have expressed concerns about the flow of peak-hour foot traffic through the city.
“Retailers have invested in the existing infrastructure in the malls,” an industry source said.
It is not just the retailers in the malls adjacent to the city station – the property owners at the foot of William Street are concerned that the new station might restrict access to certain properties.
“The main criticism is that the Government has designed something that works best from a transport perspective, but it doesn’t take into consideration things like pedestrian flow or city planning issues,” an industry analyst said.
In recent years, city retailers have been forced to compete with the major suburban shopping centres and their high-profile marketing campaigns. The proposed rail line provides the opportunity for more people to get into the city, irrespective of where the city station is finally located.
However, the WA Retailers’ Association chief executive officer Martin Dempsey said retailers needed to carefully analyse any proposal before pouring cold water on it.
“People are rushing to make what is essentially a commercial analysis,” Mr Dempsey said.
“It happened before, with the extension to the Mitchell Freeway – all of a sudden people were rushing to buy land at what was the last stop. My suggestion is that we give the ideas people a bit more of a chance.”
The Government’s proposal will see all the traffic from the northern and southern lines routed through the new William Street station.
This proposal will dramatically reduce the number of pedestrians moving through the city malls and arcades that radiate out from the footbridge and the city train station.
And it is not just the sole traders – Myer and David Jones, the major retailers in the vicinity, also stand to suffer.
The proposal has so incensed the City of Perth that it has commissioned a report into the most cost-effective route of the railway from the Narrows Bridge to Perth Central Station. It is understood the study looks at both the William Street route and an alternative route up the freeway in front of Parliament House, which would have its own station, before linking back to the central railway station from there.
Industry commentators from both the property and retail sector have expressed concerns about the flow of peak-hour foot traffic through the city.
“Retailers have invested in the existing infrastructure in the malls,” an industry source said.
It is not just the retailers in the malls adjacent to the city station – the property owners at the foot of William Street are concerned that the new station might restrict access to certain properties.
“The main criticism is that the Government has designed something that works best from a transport perspective, but it doesn’t take into consideration things like pedestrian flow or city planning issues,” an industry analyst said.
In recent years, city retailers have been forced to compete with the major suburban shopping centres and their high-profile marketing campaigns. The proposed rail line provides the opportunity for more people to get into the city, irrespective of where the city station is finally located.
