The sudden end of working-from-home arrangements and an emphasis on reviving the central business district could come at the expense of the gains made by suburban businesses during the pandemic, local mayors and business leaders warn.
“There’s nothing better as a local mayor than being able to see local cafes and restaurants full because people who’ve chosen to work from home [and] are choosing to have their after-work drink or dinner in a local cafe or restaurant rather than one in the CBD,” Cr Lane said. Cr Byrne said the government had spent millions on CBD activation grants and should match this with investment in al fresco dining, live performances and street parties in neighbourhoods across the city.
Cr Davis council was trying to revive the Parramatta CBD with events such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Parramatta Park and a First Nations hip hop festival. She also represents 33 other suburbs with town centres and acknowledged the trend for people to socialise in local suburbs had benefited small businesses in tough times.
Anne Kenyon, the president of the Hornsby Chamber of Commerce, said many local businesses had found their rhythm catering to people working from home and were “frustrated by the goal posts moving again” and nervous it could happen suddenly. Many workers resented the rhetoric around “return to work” because they had been working all along, she said.
“There may be some merit in a vibrant CBD, but the CBD is definitely not the whole story,” Cr Parker said. “Major centres may have been, pre COVID, the economic heart of Sydney, but I would hope going forward that isn’t the whole picture. It was an out-moded way of thinking.”
niltiac What a joke Brittany Higgins' claims are untested in Court Accused won't get a fair hearing. Maiden and Murphy never contemplated impacts of her drunken state on her memory. Incompetent journalism based on unproven premise. Will they hand back Walkleys if accuser is acquitted?