There's a train coming down the track at us and it's called the cruise industry, which is just one reason why we have to have this dialogue about our CBD.
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There are plenty of other reasons. We need our businesses to survive, we want to live and work in a town that looks attractive, we want our visitors to enjoy our town and success is catching.
Even if you're not in business or involved in tourism, you enjoy the choice of coffee shops, restaurants, clubs and retailers because our visitors like them.
So let's accept there have been mistakes made in the past with respect to this town, some of which can't be fixed. Let's deal with what can be fixed instead and let go of what can't be changed.
We're a coastal town and our design needs to reflect that. It's surely time that instead of allowing concrete facades to inhabit our streets we applied some design rules around commercial DAs.
Cr Mitchell Nadin has talked about a "design panel" which would vet final designs to ensure that they met previously agreed design parameters.
Bruce Marshall is right in saying that Beach Street offers a lot of promise as a waterfront development. We're not talking high rise buildings but simply decking, opportunities for cafes and community spaces.
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We have the most magnificent coastal scenery and a delightful lake right in the centre of town but we chose to turn our backs on it and put our bins along part of it.
Maybe it's time to take another look at our parking. We can't magically produce another 100 spaces, but should we reinforce the need for retailers to free up parking close to their own shops, as it lets their customers park there? Or are there other ways we can be more creative about parking times?
Sometimes things have to reach a crisis point before anything happens. Well it looks as though we're close with several people from different parts of the community raising the alarm.
There has been many years of neglect in Merimbula and the CBD, it is looking jaded and unloved.
No-one is going to be able to turn this around overnight. It will take time, money and effort. There needs to be a desire on the part of all for positive change and a willingness to be part of that change.
That is why it really is important to attend the meeting on Thursday evening and - if you want to - have your say.
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Have your say, submit a letter:
