Community consultation completed for the CBD Masterplan

Wagga Wagga City Council would like to thank our local community for getting involved in the public consultation period for the CBD Masterplan.

The preparation of a masterplan for the Wagga Wagga CBD provides Council with the opportunity to partner with the community in determining how to best activate, diversify and improve the CBD as the city grows.

It will produce a clear plan for the future of the CBD while also identifying opportunities for growth. As part of the initial development process of the masterplan, Council sought to collect ideas and opinions from residents, businesses, landowners, groups and organisations, schools, government agencies, and key stakeholders.

Completed between March and April this year, the public consultation phase gathered a variety of feedback which will inform the draft masterplan, which Council’s strategic team are in the early stages of preparing.

Council’s Director Regional Activation John Sidgwick said our community showed great enthusiasm and interest over the consultation process.

“We asked our community to engage with us in order to hear what the main priorities are for the future of Wagga Wagga’s CBD,” Mr Sidgwick said.

“We are proud to say we received just shy of 1000 contributions in various forms, including online and in person responses through surveys and mapping activities, free form submissions, and via a series of pop ups around the city and villages.

“Council staff are now sorting through all the feedback to understand how we can improve our CBD for the better.”

Although the feedback is still being considered, early observations have indicated there are clear priorities from our community.

These include a new water or splash park, reduced congestion in the main street, improved pedestrian priority and access, consolidated and improved parking options, maintaining heritage area conservation and significance, First Nations recognition through urban design and public art, and increased accommodation options.

“The overwhelming response from our community means we have a little more data to organise than initially anticipated,” Mr Sidgwick said.

“Council staff will spend the next few months analysing submissions and preparing an engagement summary report.

“This report will be presented to Council and publicly available during exhibition of the final document so our community can understand how they have helped shape our future CBD Masterplan.”

To find more information and receive updates on the progress of the masterplan, visit our Have Your Say website