Darren Pead is committed to the economic health of the Hawkesbury, running Guy Stuff, Lollies ‘N Stuff and Delicious Desserts – all in Windsor Mall.
He’s also passionate about how we present and promote our town centres, balancing renewal with enhancement of our wonderful heritage.
Council has spent the last three years developing a strategy for renewal in our town centres as part of our participation in the $18.75M Western Parkland City Liveability Program.
Darren has travelled the world to look at how other historic townships put their heritage front and centre, and asks if we’ve gotten the mix right.
Recently the community has affirmed it wants the rotunda and the gas lanterns preserved and restored in Windsor Mall, but Darren points to the huge proportion of the available budget being lost to just one aspect – uprooting and relaying all the paving, when repairs to the existing paving (badly needed – no argument) could unlock millions to get better value from the project as a whole.
I don’t want to see wrought iron seating replaced with sterile, Westfield-style bland street furniture.
A heritage trail could link Windsor Station to Thompson Square with medallions embedded in the pathways and an extension of heritage-styled lanterns down George St.
Darren and I would like to see the plan – otherwise excellent, given one more pass by Councillors to ensure that the money is spent where it will do the most good.
We sat down and had a chat this week and it makes for a fascinating conversation.