It can be a natural reaction to resist change, no matter how great or small.
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But it’s refreshing to hear that business owners in Maitland’s Heritage Mall are looking at the long-term gain of The Levee project, even though it has put them in the middle of a major construction zone.
As one month passed since the first stage of construction began on the multi-million dollar project this week, business owners told the Mercury they had not felt as much short-term pain as they had expected.
Despite a moderate downturn in foot traffic, retailers and business owners have kept a positive outlook.
Some told the Mercury that although they were apprehensive at first, they were heartened that construction workers appeared to be trying to minimise the impacts of the work on mall businesses.
They did not even pin the downturn in foot traffic solely on The Levee work, attributing at least some of the downturn to the time of the year – end of the financial year and winter.
Much of the kudos should go to Maitland City Council’s organisation of the project, which promised that not one day would pass where customers or clients could not access a business in the mall.
Replacing a pedestrian zone with a road for motor vehicles was bound to be a messy job.
But scheduling a weekly time for people to drop-in and have a chat or air their concerns with project leaders shows that council is keen to keep an open-door policy.
Work is expected to be finished by late January or early February, but there is no better time than now to get among the tradies and machinery and support our local businesses.