Dubbo is not the place it was five years ago. With developments popping up left, right and centre - from a skate park and controversial theatre to a cultural centre, the approval of a $20 million upgrade to Orana Mall and new Woolworths at Delroy - Dubbo’s only direction now is up. But what more do we need? KATE MOODY asks six Dubbo identities what they want next for Dubbo.
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A Lake at the RAAF Base
A lake like Broken Hill’s Twin Lakes located at the Dubbo RAAF Base would be a good use of space and investment into the city’s future, a Dubbo resident said.
Wally Flynn, Dubbo recipient of an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2008 said it was “a wild dream” but “a nice lake somewhere in the city” is what Dubbo needs next.
“We’ve got all the amenities like shopping centres. We’ve got to get something else the whole family could enjoy,” he said.
The Macquarie River was “alright but not the sort of thing you can go and sail out on or picnic at”, Mr Flynn said.
He said a replication of Broken Hill’s Twin Lakes “would be a real asset” to Dubbo.
“You could have it up near the RAAF Base,” he said.
A 5-Star Resort
A country-themed luxury resort located on the Macquarie River not far from the zoo could “enhance Dubbo as a place to be”, local businessman Michael Brennan said.
It could be marketed in conjunction with a range of other outback attractions and “add to the name of Dubbo”, he said.
Mr Brennan said a luxury resort would provide jobs for local people and an added reason for those from Sydney and rural and regional areas to visit and stay in Dubbo.
“We’ve got a great TAFE facility and hospitality sector. This could be a place for them to get jobs and a reason for people to stay here,” he said.
“We haven’t got anywhere where you can ... come out and experience the western culture in a little bit of luxury.”
Dedicated Cycle Ways
Dedicated sections of road for cyclists would be safer than white strips of paint on the city’s roads and would encourage more people to ride to work, a local sporting affiliate said.
“If you just have painted lines it becomes a parking area for cars and it doesn’t have the same level of safety,” Dubbo Kangaroos Club secretary Frank Newman said.
Dedicated cycle ways linked to the schools, recreational facilities, the central business district and the Macquarie riverbank would have enormous benefits to Dubbo, he said.
“It might lessen the obesity rate ... make it a much more pleasant place to live, and an alternative way for people to get to work.”
A Revamp of the CBD
The Macquarie Regional Library should be relocated nearer the council chambers to make way for a multi-storey carpark and shops like ALDI, Harris Farm Markets and Kmart as the CBD expands, a former Dubbo councillor said.
“We’re a major service centre for a big area ... if we’ve got these major shops people will be drawn to them and it will have an ongoing effect,” Kim Williams said.
Mr Williams said the CBD will always be “the heart and soul of the city” and “office buildings like the Daily Liberal in the main street need to go”.
“It has been the same size for about 150 years and with all the other developments under way in Dubbo,” Mr Williams said, “we need to bring our focus back to the CBD (and) encourage developers to build in the city”.
“It needs to be revamped and updated and maybe with the new LEP the public can have an input into how far the CBD goes. Maybe get rid of the CBD terminology and call it the High Street,” he said.
Infrastructure for Health
“In my mind the thing that is holding Dubbo back at the moment is health,” Independent Retirees Dubbo branch president Graham Knight said.
He said while the city continued to move forward in terms of infrastructure, the region was at a “disadvantage” in the health stakes.
“Except for health, Dubbo has everything I want. And as you get older that’s what worries you,” he said.
Mr Knight, who is also a regional representative for the NSW Cancer Council and the facilitator of the Prostate Cancer Support Group, said he was “cynical” about the State Government’s sincerity in getting a new hospital for the region.
“It’s only a promise ... they haven’t even got a master plan,” he said.
“I’ve been in Dubbo for 45 years and there have been that many redevelopments of Dubbo Base Hospital and we’ve got nothing better ... We do need facilities, especially for cancer.”
More Public Art
Prettier parklands and using them more for music and cultural festivals would help give Dubbo “a personality of its own”, artist Brigid Palin said.
Ms Palin facilitates the community art projects that create mosaics in Dubbo’s parks and said the city needed “new stuff popping up” like sculptures and murals to give it “a bit of an identity and uniqueness”.
“It makes people proud of the place by making the town really vibrant and interesting. It livens the place up a bit,” Ms Palin said.
She said Dubbo had a strong cultural community and its parks and weather should be taken advantage of “in the form of festivals” to the enhance city’s “sense of individuality”.
“It’s about making the most of our music and cultural community and encouraging cultural community development, not just shopping centres and buildings.”