Chorus of locals sing the shopping centre blues

Shopping centres in NSW employ 170,000 people and generate 21.5 billion dollars in sales every year, accounting for 2.7 per cent of the Gross State Product, this puts the shopping centre industry in the same realm as local fishing and mining industries. So why is it that local councilors are so violently opposed to the plans to bring more retail and high rise structures to Ku-ring-gai?

Councillor Tony Hall has been one of the most outspoken opponents to over-development recently, not only criticising the planning team, but other councillors that are accepting the proposals.

"Any councillor who supports nine-storeys in this area has the survival instinct of a lemming," Cr Hall says in reference to plans to build two nine-storey buildings on the Wade Lane car park site in Gordon.

Cr Hall is also concerned that the proposed plans will result in a proliferation of retail sites that are incongruous with the village atmosphere that the North Shore is known for, adding that "another larger scale development at Gordon is unnecessary and unwelcome."

While Cr Hall's views are not shared by all of the Ku-ring-gai councillors, history suggests that Cr Hall is right to be suspicious of plans to increase retail outlets, or more specifically, the number of shopping centres in the area.

Matthew Bailey is writing a thesis about the impact of shopping centres on the community at Macquarie University and believes that the convenience and choice afforded by large shopping centres comes at a cost to the community.

Through this study, Bailey is piecing together the history of shopping centres in Sydney, a history that is filled with political underhandedness and corporate dominance, as well as the impact that shopping centres have on small businesses and community organisations.

Bailey's study has dealt with, among other centres, the building of Chatswood Chase in 1975. "It was built on a site that housed a kindergarten, a senior citizens centre and a community aid centre," according to Bailey's research paper. "The centre was built, and the kindergarten and seniors centre shifted to the fringes of the commercial district as traffic increasingly bottled its heart."

Bailey's description of what happened in Chatswood mirrors the concerns of citizens and councillors in Ku-ring-gai. Cr Hall asserts that with Gordon town centre already taking 4,000 cars an hour, the proposed changes will invariably bring traffic problems.

As for the demise of centrally located community services, Bailey explains that; "Shopping centres don't necessarily force out community services. My point about Chatswood was an ironic one. Shopping centres claim to be 'community centres' and yet here was one being built on a site that housed existing, important local community institutions. A large company was privileged ahead of smaller local interests."

With an increasing number of activists and community groups lining up to take pot shots at organisations like Westfield, here are some of the primary concerns that arise when 'big business' comes to town.

Stiff competition for existing retailers

With the high density retail opportunities that multi-storeyed shopping centres offered, the sheer number of new businesses that are suddenly in competition with the existing shops often make it difficult for small business owners in the smaller shopping villages.

"Small retail external to big centres invariably suffers," says Bailey. "Independent retail does exist, but often has to re-invent itself."

While large shopping centres do not necessarily spell the end of high-street shopping, the recent demise in sales at villages like Oxford Street and Double Bay are attributed by many to the recent expansion of the shopping centre at Bondi Junction.

Privatisation of the Suburbs

When the Eastgardens shopping centre was being built in Pagewood in the early 1980s, the Urban Traffic Authority re-routed at least ten bus services to include a stop outside the new centre just two days before it opened.

Consequently, the busses now drove straight past the local retailers who previously relied upon them to bring their local customers. The president of the Maroubra Chamber of Commerce said at the time "It's a powerful organisation that can change bus routes."

The 'big-business' nature of shopping centres gears the centres towards privatisation and exclusion of people that they deem unworthy to shop. In a study called The Privatisation of Public Property, Chris Voyce used the development of Westfield Hornsby as a case study to "understand how mall owners may manipulate what I call 'semi-public space' to meet their particular marketing needs."

While Westfield were unable to comment about specific security practices, Julia Clarke, Manager of Corporate Affairs for Westfield stated that, "We try to provide an environment that is as safe as possible for shoppers and retailers alike... they are a priority and are in place to maintain the safety and comfort of all those who use the centre."

Voyce's criticism hinges on the fact that shopping centres are turning public space into a facility which is not accessible to all members of the public, how many security guards do you see at Roseville village?

Customers equal cash

In January this year two brothers suffering from muscular dystrophy received a $50 000 settlement from Westfield after one brother was forced to crawl while the other was carried to their car after Westfield, Fountain Gate in Melbourne, prevented the brothers from taking their centre owned wheel chairs to their car.

While the brothers suffered no long-term damage and money was donated to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the incident highlights the pitfalls of bureaucracy that may prevent customers being treated as humans.

"It is a corporate, planned environment," says Bailey on the nature of shopping centres. "(They are) designed to generate as much profit as possible, imposed from above- rather than an organic, locally generated environment."

Clarke assured the Observer that, "we constantly re-evaluate the way we deal with our customers, particularly in the wake of an unfortunate situation such as that at Fountain Gate earlier this year."

Safety Concerns

While most of the criticisms of the planned upgrades in Ku-ring-gai focus on the visual effect of the shop top housing or multi-storeyed buildings or the logistical problems of an increased population and traffic alterations, the towering heights that shopping centres are now reaching also pose as a threat to the life of the shopping going public as well.

Chatswood Police Officer Geoff Bell confirmed that there was a tragic incident in September last year where a lady fell from one of the top balconies and crushed a shopper below, however he did stress that it was a one off occurrence stating that, "we don't get a lot of trouble from Westfield."

Although shocking circumstances such as this are not common, it highlights one of the problems with high-rise buildings and suggests that if such structures are not required, they are an unnecessary risk to the community.

While the plans to change Ku-ring-gai may be out of local representatives' hands, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that shopping centres aren't necessarily the best option for the community when upgrading retail facilities.

Shopping centres certainly have a number of benefits in terms of convenience, choice and accessibility, which is why there has been a boom in the number of outlets around the world in the last fifty years. Yet Bailey asserts, "it's getting to the point where enough is probably enough. How many mega centres do you really need?"