Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood reflects on initial customer and business reaction to the city's new streetside dining decks. Video by Aaron Smith (15/2/25)
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00:00So this trial's been going on for a couple of months now, we've predominantly looked
00:03at George Street as a part of the trial process.
00:06George Street already has quite a bit of infrastructure here with the cafes and the on-street opportunities
00:11and we knew that we would actually make a bit of an impact.
00:14Losing some car spots along here would create that conversation and it's not a conversation
00:18that we've been afraid of at the City of Launceston as well.
00:21So it's really about taking that feedback from the businesses, the community and then
00:26taking that back into Council and sort of collating all of that data and I think it's
00:31been a really great initiative.
00:32It's an initiative that's evolved over time, we've seen even this one that we're standing
00:36out the front on has been relocated.
00:38So we had some further up in George Street, wasn't quite being as utilised as well, some
00:42businesses had some feedback about the access and loading zones, so we've relocated it down
00:46to here and it's one of my favourite ones to come up past, and past Amelia's, and the
00:50most utilised.
00:51So I think it's been a really great opportunity for us to try something different and to come
00:56back and listen to the community.
00:58Always losing car spots in the CBD particularly is going to create some conversation, but
01:03it's further conversation that we're going to have in Council about what parking looks
01:06like to the City of Launceston.
01:07Over the next couple of months we're going to be doing some really extensive reviews
01:11about that, but if you want to be on the street, I think if we look at some first hour freeze
01:17and get that rotation of business going for businesses, and if you want to stay a bit
01:21longer, go into a multi-storey.
01:22If you have the ability to walk an extra block, the passive ways in which you can walk past
01:26some vibrancy like these parklets is really useful to our city.
01:30And yeah, I think that parking should be for those who need it with accessibility challenges
01:35and also deliveries, and if you can walk that block then yeah, we're going to continue to
01:39incentivise that here in the city and try and create that vibrancy.
01:43I think it's shown that the customers are really enjoying spending time outside while
01:48they're here.
01:49It gives them an opportunity to sit outside and enjoy the sun and enjoy the weather, and
01:56overall we're just getting more people from it, which is nice.