Community welcome to Future City forums

Everyone is invited to come along to the Council Chambers this week to learn about and ask questions on Council’s Future City plans.

The Future City project is a bold attempt to re-vitalise Orange’s Central Business District (CBD).

The project has evolved to take up a broader opportunity to encourage more people to come to the Orange CBD and spend more time there, to build a CBD the people of Orange can be proud of.

The Future City project is also about supporting current businesses and creating a CBD which will attracts new investment.

Council is hosting forums this week where the community is encouraged to come along and ask questions on all topics including, proposed speed limit changes in the CBD, public art and business support measures.

Orange Mayor Reg Kidd invites all members of the community to attend one of two forums on Wednesday or Thursday.

“We have already held forums for business owners of the CBD and those were full of really productive, full and frank discussions about our plans,” Cr Kidd.

“We heard from a range of business owners and managers, listened to their opinions, received their input and have made a series of tweaks and changes to our designs to accommodate as many people as possible.

“We’re now keen to hear from all members of the community about our three year plan.

“The Future City project is about more than a mall in Anson Street and a revitalisation of McNamara Lane, it’s about digital support for CBD businesses, improved traffic flow in the area, creating more parking on the outer blocks of the CBD and improving walking and cycle access from suburban areas.

“We’re calling on artists to put in submissions to create public art, we have live, local music gigs up and running, we’ve improved the lighting and we’re working on a lot of underground infrastructure updates.

“It’s about making the CBD a place where people want to be, want to stay and can easily and safely navigate.

“We want to talk with you, the community, about our plans and hear what you think of them.

“Whether it be an opinion on reducing the speed limit in the CBD to 40km/h, or a point of view on parking, footpaths, lighting, anything related to the CBD we would love to hear about it.”

The two workshops will be held on Wednesday and Thursday from 5.30pm to 6.30pm. Council staff will give a presentation on the various aspects of the three-year project and there will be opportunities for questions and answers.

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