RESIDENTS have blasted council’s new footpath trading policy, saying it would turn the city streets into something of a “back alley”.
As reported in the Star (5 March 2009) Greater Dandenong council approved traders to “lure the impulse shopper” by putting their wares on the footpath.
Councillor Paul Donovan said that for many traders, footpaths maximised their trade.
While former mayor and current councillor John Kelly described footpath trading as a “blight on our city”.
Last week Star received a number of letters to the editor highlighting the dissatisfaction of residents over the decision.
Dandenong resident Anna Finikiotou said while she welcomed alfresco dining she thought the “unsightly and cluttered footpaths” would not complement it.
“No one wants to be sitting outdoors in a coffee shop or restaurant next door to a cluttered trading footpath or facing one for that matter,” she said. “It is indeed a back alley footpath trading setting.”
Another Dandenong resident Judith Eckstein wrote; “They are about to chop down some 60 eucalypts to make way for their vision of a European boulevard for Dandenong.”
Comparing the planned look of Dandenong and Paris, Berlin and Vienna, Ms Eckstein seemed confused.
“As I remember them, these impressive streets and their handsome old trees do not feature multicoloured plastic buckets, women’s pants, night dresses, pegs, bulk packages of toilet paper and stacks of other such trivia,” she said.
“What exactly does the council want – a European boulevard or a back alley?”
– Melissa Meehan
