News / Planning
Call for a fresh vision for ‘square of despair’
Council to investigate options for revitalising Grantham Street precinct
Mark Phillips
DRAB, unsafe, dirty – Union Square in Grantham Street is probably Brunswick’s most unloved shopping centre.
But Merri-bek Deputy Mayor Lambros Tapinos wants that to change.
A lifelong Brunswick West resident, Tapinos has watched Union Square decline to the point where some locals tell him they prefer to bypass it for shops further away.
But Tapinos believes the centre, built in the 1970s, has unfulfilled potential that could be unlocked through strategic investment by the council and state government alongside the private sector and this could in turn spark a full revitalisation of Grantham Street.
To deliver on his vision, he recently convinced other councillors to support a report into a community engagement program for the entire Grantham and Union street precinct. Involving traders, residents and governments, it would develop a masterplan for the area, including what types of shops and services are needed, streetscape renewal and beautification, public space requirements, and traffic and transport.
At Tapinos’ instigation, the council will also reach out to the various owners of the shopping centre to work together on making it safer and more visually appealing.
“They call it the shopping centre of despair,” Tapinos said.
“It’s just so rundown and hasn’t had the investment it deserves. In fact, it’s getting worse, there’s more wear and tear … and there doesn’t seem to be a vision or any plans to redevelop it into a modern shopping center that we can all be proud of.”
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The site of the shopping centre was originally settled in the 1850s by farmer John Joseph Hodges.
For much of the 20th century, it was the brewing plant for soft drink company Tarax (part of the factory building remains on Union Street) before it was redeveloped into a discount supermarket called Half Case Warehouse in the mid-1970s.
Later incarnations included BiLo before a Coles supermarket was located there. Further extensions in the early-1980s saw a discount clothing shop Treasureway .
During a recent tour alongside Tapinos, it was clear that Union Square has seen better days. It is still anchored by Coles, but the closure of a bakery and butcher in recent years have left glaring vacancies. Other tenants include takeaway food shops, a beautician, chemist and a TAB.
The arcade which comprises most of the centre is unwelcoming and dark, and the public amenities are dirty and smelly. Worn brown tiles add to the sense of a lack of maintenance.
Outside, a desolate rear car park has poor lighting and feels unsafe at night, while rubbish skips are regularly overflowing with waste spilling onto the ground from bags which have been ripped open by birds and animals.
“As a local councillor, but also a local resident who shops here, I know that this could be a lot better, whether that is improving the amenities, improving the cleanliness, the litter,” Tapinos said.
“There’s a lot of graffiti, there’s a lot of things that need attention today.”
Beyond those short-term fixes, Tapinos wants to see a strategy for the future of the centre. He is confident this could be the catalyst for revitalisation of the entire Grantham Street strip.
A longer term vision for Union Square could include the council buying part of the site to convert it into a public open space. Tapinos said there was nothing to prevent several levels of housing being built above the shops.
Other improvements could be delivered through advocacy to the state government, including relocating the Grantham Street pedestrian crossing a few dozen metres further south to the corner of Union Street and building accessible tram stops.
Read more:
‘The people deserve better’: readers have their say on Union Square
Tapinos conceded a major hurdle to generating new investment in the shopping centre itself was that it did not have one single owner but was run by a body corporate, but he said by taking the initiative capital spending by the council could help to kickstart redevelopment.
“This is one of the last large sites in Brunswick, and we want to make sure that we have a community vision for future development of the site,” Tapinos said.
“We want to see jobs and retail activities, as well as some homes. So I think a community vision, which could inspire the landowners to do more, would be a good thing. It’s about bringing the state investment, the council investment, and any private investment all working off a joint plan developed with our community.”
“We want to be partners because we want this place to improve,” he added.
“We’ve got a growing population, and more and more people coming down here and they deserve a better shopping centre than what the current shopping centre is … I think that if we could make this a real destination for shopping it would have a lot of benefits for the whole of Grantham Street and the whole of Brunswick West.”
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