Page 2629 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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The centre was given a bit of a face lift a little while ago with a much-appreciated new public toilet. I must compliment the staff of TAMS—on the occasions that I have been at the Cook shops, I have witnessed it being cleaned on two or three occasions, and it was always in very good condition. It is a testament to the TAMS staff that, now we are building public toilets at shops, they are the sort that people will not be reluctant to use.
The long-awaited upgrade of the Cook shops seems to be on the never-never. In November last year a preliminary sketch plan for a more comprehensive upgrade was displayed at the centre and public comment was invited. In February this year I wrote to Mr Rattenbury asking him what the government intended to do with the Cook shops, and he replied three months later, on 5 May. After telling me the process involved in the preliminary sketch plan and outlining some of the suggested improvements, Mr Rattenbury said:
The construction of the Cook shops is dependent upon the success of funding bids for the 2014-15 budget.
I am not quite sure that he actually meant “construction”, but that is what he said. I think he probably meant “reconstruction” or “refurbishment”. But at least I was encouraged that there were perhaps changes in the wind—in reality, not much more than a zephyr but at least blowing towards Cook shops.
I was pleased to note a budget allocation of $2 million over two years for local shopping centre refurbishments. This amount is to be shared between Cook, Rivett and the Mannheim Street shops in Kambah. When I asked my staff to follow up with Mr Rattenbury’s office on the matter to see how much was earmarked for Cook and what the time lines were, my staff were told:
Money has not been specifically earmarked for the projects, as this further work is to be done. Rivett shops will likely be a larger project than Cook and the Mannheim Street projects. At this stage the plan is to have each centre upgrade completed within the next two years.
The response went on to say:
The funding is also to be used to establish a strategy for co-funding of future shopping centre upgrades.
So we do not know how much is going to be spent on the Cook shops or when it is to be spent. All we have is some vague pie-in-the-sky preliminary figure. Yes, it does talk about time lines of two years, but without some specifics, particularly as to the budget for the Cook shops, two years really seems to be on the never-never. Will Cook be done first, second or last? How much will be set aside for the development of the future co-funding strategy? Will the budget run out before we get to the Cook shops? No-one knows, much less the residents of Cook and the long-suffering merchants trying to scratch a living together at the Cook shops.
But Dr Bourke has been out there saying he has achieved a great outcome for the Cook shops. He has been telling the people that the upgrade is in the bag. The real
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