The Levee precinct includes more than the part of High Street that is being reopened to vehicles, according to Maitland City Council.
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A council spokesperson told the Mercury that the decision to hold the Aroma Coffee and Chocolate Festival in the Riverside Car Park in August, instead of the revamped stretch of High Street, would still mean the festival would be held in The Levee.
He said The Levee precinct included the area of central Maitland bounded by Ken Tubman Drive and High Street.
“The Riverside Car Park falls within this precinct, so it goes a long way towards building the community’s understanding of the whole precinct offering,” he said.
The comments came as some retailers told the Mercury they were concerned that council had not planned to hold Aroma in the old mall, which would help boost struggling businesses in the area.
Council wants to create a distinction between Aroma and Maitland Taste Festival, which was held in High Street in March.
Aroma was held in the Riverside Car Park last year while construction was taking place in High Street.
“A number of reasons contributed to the decision to hold the event in this location including anecdotal feedback from visitor and festival
participants, and availability of a large-scale space, which all lead to this being the best location for the event,” the spokesman said.
He said a review would take place after this year’s Aroma festival to evaluate whether to continue to hold the event in the Riverside Car Park.
A sidewalk sale is being planned for High Street businesses to draw foot traffic through the revamped section of The Levee during Aroma.
“Complementary activities are planned for the shared zone within The Levee,” he said. “In particular, all children’s activities are planned to be held in this space, encouraging visitors with children to move between the two locations.
“Further, with the Riverside Car Park closed, there is the opportunity for businesses to leverage the additional visitors to the city by promoting sale items given that it’s the end of the season.”
The original February completion date for construction of stage one of The Levee was pushed back until the end of May, but it is not known what effect last month’s super storm and major flood has had on the work.
“The full impact on The Levee component one construction schedule from the Hunter Region storms is yet to be determined,” the spokesman said.