Sunday 13 September 2015

A Shed Gets Cleaned Up - What's Next?

Plans to clean up QVM's A Shed precinct have been welcomed by most but the task now becomes how to add vibrancy to a neglected area of the market.

Our photo shows the newly created "mall area" on the North side of A shed where parked vehicles, rubbish piles and general mayhem used to reside. The north side of A shed used to be an operating Fruit & Vege aisle with pallets, vehicles and discarded rubbish. Unfortunately A Shed backed on to the shops on Victoria St. and was also used as a public thoroughfare for customers either visiting the Victoria St. shops or transiting to the bottom end of the market. The clash of Fruit & Vege operations and public transit brought many problems not the least of which involved health and safety.

Traders on the north side of A Shed have now been moved over to the south side of the shed or into adjoining sheds where "back of house" facilities can be separated from public areas. That is all good, but it means we now have a sizeable area of the market that needs to be re-invigorated. We understand that plans include special market activities and an enhanced food offer involving existing traders. 

Getting A shed right is going to take time. In the context of 15 or so years of neglect, these first moves over the last few months are setting a good platform for adjusting to changing retail demand and enhancing an important part of our market. As with all projects of this type, we urge the QVM Board and City of Melbourne to make adequate resources available to the management team to ensure a good result.

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