Photos: John Garozzo
NEWS
The Chinatown Mall redevelopment was officially opened on Sunday – but while the dancing lions and fireworks did their best to ward off any evil spirits, they could not totally dispel the bitterness still felt by local traders who have seen their incomes slashed by the much-delayed and much-maligned project.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman’s (pictured below left) announcement that outdoor dining fees would be waived for the next 12 months met with a lukewarm reaction from restaurant owners and a scathing “does nothing for us” comment from one of the non-food retailers fronting the mall.
Tom Tran of the Green Tea Restaurant when told by The Independent that his outdoor dining fese would be waived said: “This is the first time I’ve heard of it. It would have been nice to have been told.”
Mr Tran, who spends between $3000 and $4000 annually on outdoor dining fees, added: “That won’t be nearly enough [to cover losses over many months] but what can you do? They were never going to offer any compensation.” Mr Tran did applaud the Lord Mayor’s announcement that council would foster outdoor cooking in the new mall.
“We would love to do more outdoor cooking. If you go to places like Singapore you see a lot of street vendors,” Mr Tran said “The sights and sounds of outdoor cooking would be great for the mall. “If they relax the council’s current rules, I will take this as far as I can.”
Further down the revamped mall, Nelson Long at the Mandarin Palace said word of a fees waiver – he pays about $2000 a year – was also news to him. “That is good news. We appreciate that. And now we can hopefully recoup some of our loses and restore our profitability.” Asked if the gesture was sufficient enough compensation, Mr Long said: “It’s not nearly enough but it’s better than nothing.”
He also welcomed council’s relaxation of outdoor cooking rules. But he was critical of the short celebrations for the start of the Chinese New Year of the metal Tiger.
“We suffered for a long time and then we had good business for three days but it’s way too short.”
He also called on the council to spend more money on entertainment in, and promotion of, the new mall to get people to come and enjoy it. The owners of Happy High Herbs used the weekend of the mall’s relaunch to again criticise the lack of any form of compensation from City Hall.
Monique and Mark Gregory in an open email to nearby traders and the media said mud had been thrown at their store windows during recent construction work but the council had not even offered a professional window clean.
They also claimed that the disruptions local businesses had put up with over the past year would not have been inflicted on city traders.
“Would this happen in Queen Street Mall to the traders there?? No! So please help to ensure that the community is aware of all the mistreatment of traders in this mall over the past year and also any guidance to a small business as to what action we can take to legally get a fair compensation (professionally cleaned windows is a good start!)” They also criticised the time the mall revamp took, and the frenzied surge in the number of workers on the site recently.
“The number of persons working on the mall over the past three weeks has been approximately 30 to 40, an increase from six to eight actual workers on some days, with some days no works at all. Why were the 30 to 40 persons not started after concerns were raised last August?
“We have watched major developments around the Valley go up (complete) in this year and still the mall is not done?” The Gregorys told The Independent this week: “[Waiving] the outdoor dining fees does nothing for us and we would have preferred an across-the-board reduction on our rates to help us. “ Also, we’d like an indication of future marketing and activity programs to spread the word of its completion and stimulate trade so that some of the ‘for lease’ signs start coming down around the Valley.”
Both sides of City Hall also used the reopening weekend to bicker over the project’s cost. The Labor Opposition said the mall could have cost $12 million or rmore, but Lord Mayor Newman said the price would be close to the original estimate of $8 million although final figures would not be available for several months.
At Sunday’s reopening, Mr Newman also pledged $150,000 of ratepayers’ money towards the establishment of a Chinese Museum of Queensland, with the proviso that the museum must be nearby to Chinatown Mall.
