A show of confidence
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IT’S always pleasing to be able to comment on new or expanded businesses in Lithgow, particularly in the Main Street strip. And a bright and classy new addition to the CBD is the EyeQ Optometrist premises that relocated from a smaller shop just up the street. In what was originally years ago the Bank of NSW it’s a most attractive addition to the strip and will look even better when the remains of the long abandoned neon sign disappear from the upper facade. Then new to western Main Street is Slattery’s Outdoor Power Centre in what was previously an off road motorcycle showroom. Finally the landmark Coronation Hotel at Portland that closed after going into receivership last year has re-opened with a new owner and nifty restaurant and wine bar. Good to see people with confidence in their community when all around there are predictions of doom and gloom.
Jarring
THERE would probably be wide agreement with the views expressed by Hermitage Flat resident Ken Thompson in a note to the column. Says Ken: If council wants to increase tourism a place to start would be to repair (not patch) some of the streets, particularly Main Street. Main Street is like a goat track with uneven concrete joints and patches. Most other streets have deep holes around manholes and hydrants and grooves where trenches have been dug and not filled in properly. As for the footpaths they are just as bad, uneven and sometimes non existent. The drop off ramps are few and far between. Most of the ones that are there are too narrow and too steep. All the way down Main Street the pavers are broken, not level or sunken. Either council is not interested in this or does not care what the town looks like’. SAINT’S COMMENT: Ken will probably be pleased to learn that a major and costly upgrade is in the pipeline for the CBD, including footpaths. And while we have to agree that the Main Street concrete is becoming lumpy it would be costly to replace. The street was concreted more than 70 years ago as an unemployment relief project during the not so great Great Depression, as was the old section of the Great Western Highway west of Lithgow.