Complex, a white elephant

IT IS now two years since the large suburban-style shopping complex opened in Yarra Glen heralded as creating a new Mecca for shoppers from as far away as Panton Hills. To date, the complex remains unfinished, the public has no access to the toilets, the lift does not work and apart from the supermarket, there seems to be more retail space unfinished/vacant than occupied. Subway has been and gone. Apparently, the high leasing charges make it difficult to survive.
The many people who initially questioned the scale of the development in this rural township are now asking – is this edifice largely a white elephant? Did the research get it wrong? Did Yarra Glen really need so much more retail space? Was it always too ambitious for Yarra Glen?
This development has divided the township and impacted on other businesses. Business survival today seems more desperate than yesteryear. It might be pertinent to heed the views expressed in the Values and Vision community project of 2006 that supported a small-scale village concept for Yarra Glen.
Ian Whitford,
Steels Creek.