CRITICS need to be a little kinder to our Council as they battle bravely onwards to whatever will be the end game in Lithgow’s CBD revitalisation/beautification.
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After all, successive Councils as far back as we can recall have not had much hands-on experience in civic beautification.
It’s never been on the bucket list.
The more extreme cynics might even argue that the last successful project was the creation of Queen Elizabeth Park around the beginning of last century.
Meantime the concerns continue – understandable when all we see so far is lot of glaring concrete and the almost total loss of what little greenery previously existed in the CBD.
It might help if someone tried to explain the big picture but that hasn’t happened since the public exhibition of the well received concept plans back in 2016.
Since that time those plans have been slashed so much as to be, we’re told, unrecognisable.
Outside help
FOR the record the last significant attempt at CBD beautification, including those pavers and bollards, as we recall, was actually the initiative of LEDA, the Lithgow Enterprise Development Agency, a government funded organisation that unfortunately no longer exists.
Life’s lessons
THE obvious discomfort caused by the temporary one way traffic in Lithgow’s Main Street must surely silence those who on occasions over the years have sought to have permanent one way introduced.
It was never a good idea, a major drawback being the loss of through traffic from either the west or east.
Messy detour in place
STILL on the one way situation and it’s a pity there wasn’t a major clean up along Gray Street before east bound traffic was diverted though there.
It’s surely the messiest short length of thoroughfare in Lithgow, with some tatty structures but particularly with the litter along the car park and railway corridor that are an ongoing problem.
Nice work, but...
ON a brighter note, full marks to Roads and Maritime for the outstanding quality of the landscaping with the roadworks through Mt Victoria.
It’s a classy piece of work.
Pity some of the effort couldn’t be applied to maintaining the nature strips from Donnybrook through to Dunns Corner, although we seem to recall back in the mists of time not long after completion of the four lane the then RTA handed responsibility for that section to Council while retaining the section west of Dunns Corner.
Obviously not a good move if it’s still the case.
