Craig Wachter says Noble Park is once again safe and friendly for shoppers to return to, and in doing so, help support local traders.Picture: Stewart Chambers.
By Shaun Inguanzo
POLICE and Noble Park traders – some who have lost up to 50 per cent of their business – are pleading for shoppers to return to the town’s centre now its streets are clear of crime.
Craig Wachter, grandson of the late City of Springvale mayor Frederick Wachter, and owner of Budget Buys in Buckley Street, this week said Noble Park’s streets were the safest they had been in years.
Yet, he said, people still believed the suburb was unsafe.
Mr Wachter said negative and widespread media coverage of Noble Park’s spate of violent crime, which included assaults at the train station, fights on the street, and the stabbing death of a 19-year-old Sudanese teenager in October, had harmed the town’s reputation.
But since that ordeal, Victoria Police has launched Operation Sarazan, a crime prevention project offering a greater police presence and targeting large groups of people who congregate publicly at night time.
Last week Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans told Star the operation had been successful and would continue to run.
Mr Wachter said the streets had never been safer in Noble Park, however residents and other customers who were once too frightened to shop there had failed to return.
“The police have done a great job, but it’s like a Catch 22 situation,” he said.
“If you come here and see dozens of police in the area then you’re likely to think there’s still a problem.
“But it’s not dangerous here any more.”
Mr Wachter said his business had suffered a loss in takings over recent months of up to 50 per cent compared to what he was earning at the same time last year.
He said the losses had happened gradually over nine months – in line with the escalating social problems suffered by the township.
Sang Leng Keath, owner of Siem Reap’s Grocery Store in the newly opened Noble Plaza shopping complex in Douglas Street, said business had been slow since his Asian grocery store opened in December.
Mr Keath said he was expecting a booming trade given he offered Noble Park residents a service for which they did not have to travel to Springvale.
But Mr Keath said he expected business to increase within two to three months once more shops in Noble Plaza were open.
Cellarbrations liquor store manager Geoff Heffernan told Star the police had done an excellent job cleaning up Noble Park’s streets.
“It’s a lot safer here now,” he said.
“We hardly see people hanging around at night.”
Mr Heffernan said the bottle shop had not incurred a sustained takings setback as a result of the negative publicity.
“We were quiet for a few weeks, but we are doing pretty well now,” he said.
But he joined Mr Wachter in encouraging residents to return to their town to shop.
“Noble Park is a good place, it always has been, and the problems we have had are now gone,” Mr Heffernan said.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Evans this week reiterated the appeal to residents.
“I was down at Noble Park the other day and it’s a really good shopping centre,” he said.
“The train station is now clean, there are plenty of trees around and it is a friendly environment.
“I spoke to a number of shopkeepers and they said they do need their trade back.
“So I would encourage any locals to go back to their local shopping strip.”
