The recent Economic Development Forum held at Digital Harbour in September and hosted by the City of Melbourne was informative and an opportunity for local business owners and residents to discuss and share their views on how best to move forward to assist the Docklands business community to not just survive, but thrive.

The Forum was facilitated by John Mero and began with a brief presentation by Prof. Rob Adams, Director of Design & Urban Environment who put forward examples of similar developments overseas to Docklands and how these areas began to prosper and increase their density by stimulating public life in the domain, by becoming sustainable communities, imbedding cultural institutions while drawing people to areas through architecture as well as making the courageous decisions to enable moving forward.

Terry Rawnsley, Associate Director of SGS Economics demonstrated in
his presentation that despite the global economic downturn, the City
of Melbourne has shown great resilience and economic hardiness, with albeit small, percentage growth.

David Young of VicUrban added that it was important to recognise the progress of turning an industrial wasteland into a growing community. He reiterated VicUrban’s commitment in this second decade of development to furthering the Docklands as a place where people love to live, work and visit. David signalled the start of engagement and involvement from the community to work together toward 2020.

The forum was then open for suggestions, all points raised were valid and constructive and have been meshed together in this summary to cover
the majority of points raised.

Infrastructure:
Infrastructure needs to be improved; there are plenty of cafes but not enough parks, playgrounds and open spaces. More essential services need to be implemented especially banks. The City Circle tram has been great but more connection points into Docklands are needed. Possibly of most importance, Docklands is heading toward 20,000 residents and yet there is no provision for schooling. At the heart of every community is a school.

The Waterways:
The water is the biggest asset Docklands has, how much does Melbourne value the water? It is a vital and focal point for Melbourne to have and utilise. The Boat operators are bringing in tens of thousands of visitors to the area each year and yet there is not enough support to help sustain businesses.

The Volvo Ocean Race was celebrated as one of the best events hosted at Docklands; a suggestion is for an annual Docklands racing event as an attraction. Businesses want to see people getting to Docklands by water, what happened to the water taxis? Ironically putting emphasis on the water has not been seen as economically sound to date.

Waterfront City:
Most agreed that Waterfront City has been disappointing at best; touted as a Federation Square on the water the piazza is not utilised and the screens are a waste of space with hardly anything ever showing on them. Harbour Town is working and will continue to bring people in but some attention is required to bring life into Waterfront City and find out what works in the mix of a residential area.

Local Governing:
Too much red tape to get things done for businesses; there is a lack of signage but the red tape involved to remedy the problem is almost impossible. Docklands needs to be more accessible with more events and attractions advertised to bring people in. Businesses cannot rely on one major event or attraction such as the football or The Wheel to survive, there needs to be more. Docklands needs to be branded more positively to the broader community to increase foot traffic in Docklands, while the issue of parking must be addressed, it is extremely poor.

Yarra’s Edge is almost segregated from the rest of Docklands, direction is needed to make all areas work and prosper equally.

Suggestions:
• Some onus should fall back onto the Developers that made many promises such as 5 star fibre optics, the Wheel, parklands but have not delivered. The Developers should possibly assist businesses with lower rental rates for business owners to give them a chance to gain some momentum and succeed rather than having to close down and leave more vacant shops.

• Introduce high end retail, more
shops like Ken Duncan Gallery
and Designers’ House.

• Utilise the big screen at Waterfront City to advertise local businesses if nothing else is being screened.

• Improve signage; street signage, signage to the marina, signage
outside of Docklands.

• Encourage car parking from
the Bolte Bridge area.

• Consider the Newcastle example, to stimulate activity and fill empty shop fronts, offer low rent on short term leases to bring different groups of visitors in and increase foot traffic. Allow a culture to develop.

• Increase attractions, events and all year activity to stimulate business not just through the summer months.

• Create an annual Docklands water event.

• Support the local publications to help inform and represent the community and stimulate business.

There are many positives to consider about Docklands, the highest concentration of green buildings, Costco, Harbour Town the City Circle Tram, more and more people choosing to live in Docklands all the time with more and more big businesses seeing the value of relocating to Docklands, but most impressive of all is what was incredibly apparent at the forum - passion and community spirit!

As one person noted, the mere fact that so many people had attended to be heard and try to improve the area reflects the community’s unity and belief in Docklands. I think the community spirit was summed up best by Elena Tsapatolis, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce who said “Docklands doesn’t have a negative image, it is a spectacular place to live, it represents success, we have it all here, proximity to everything and the city at our feet, but without all the buzz.”

If you would like to comment on or add to the points raised in this summary of the economic forum please do so by emailing editor@3008docklands.com.au you can remain anonymous should you wish to