Street frontages part of Busselton plan

Incentives for landowners on Queen and Prince streets to upgrade building facades have been suggested in a report looking at future plans for the Busselton city centre and Dunsborough town centre.

Busselton City Council has been asked to consider the planning, development and management of the two centres at next week’s meeting and endorse draft conceptual plans for public consultation.

The report said several buildings along Queen and Prince streets were identified as not being “consistent with the aspirations of the City” and there was broad public interest in encouraging the upgrading of facades to a high standard.

City of Busselton officers proposed the City allocate about $20,000 towards a facade refurbishment subsidy program in the 2013-14 budget and consider additional allocations in 2014-15.

Councillor David Reid and Mayor Ian Stubbs supported the proposal.

“Everyone is keen for a new face on Queen Street,” Cr Reid said.

The potential to upgrade some side streets in Busselton over the next three to five financial years was also identified in the report.

Parking problems in Busselton and Dunsborough were also highlighted in the report.

The significant gap between peak and non-peak demand for parking in Dunsborough was labelled as “possibly higher than any other centre in the State”.

City officers nominated several ways parking availability could be increased in Dunsborough, including the construction of up to 25 additional on-street parking bays along Cyrillean Way.

Elected members were told the $60,000 required for this proposal had already been included in the City’s budget.

In Busselton, the principal opportunity to add to the amount of available parking was the Busselton Fire Station site on the southern side of Albert Street.

“Approximately 100 bays could be added to this site while retaining the existing use of the site,” the report said.

Cr Grant Henley questioned whether funds should be directed to additional parking, given the potential development of West Street and Dunsborough Lakes into shopping districts which would likely reduce demand in the centres.

Traffic management in Dunsborough was also identified, including the connection of Clark Street through to Cape Naturaliste Road as an additional route in and out of the town centre.