23 July 2014

The State of the Giralang Shops Right Now

| GiralangShops
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So I went for a walk past the Giralang Shops today – and here it what it looks like now…

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Across the road

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Walking from the road through the shops

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View to the right (Old Newsagent, Vietnamese Restaurant, Takeaway, Bakery, Hairdressers)

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View to the left (Old Giralang Tavern)

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Moving towards Giralang Primary School (In front of the entrance to the old IGA/Shoprite to the right. Side of the the Tavern with a hole ripped out of it on the left with a strange suitcase in front of it)

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View inside the hole in the Tavern

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View further into the Tavern (The old kitchen I think?)

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In front of the IGA. Big pile of rat droppings

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Now near the end of the shops looking towards the school. (Note the hole cut into the fence on the right)

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Looking through the hole into what used to be storage area for the IGA. Now full or garbage and bottles and some strange 70s furniture

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Some graffiti

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The view from the front door of Giralang Primary towards the shops

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The loading dock out the back. Near where the doctors used to be

I didn’t trespass to get these photos. I didn’t break any locks or gates to do this. It was all in the publicly accessible land that is meant to be there. Some of the fences that were there had the mesh kicked out of them or the mesh was cut meaning that I could have walked into any of those shops or areas.

Whichever direction they choose to go with for the location – they need to tear the place down. I am surprised that curious school kids have not hurt themselves there or gotten sick from that area. It is a disgrace and needs to be cleaned up soon.

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magiccar9 said :

You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

You think? I lived in Giralang for 8 years and it never had shops, I’d say you could throw one of those cans and hit 10 people who’ve never had shops, and have no idea why Kaleen can have two shops while we had this rundown derelict mess.

Personally I moved to braddon where I could walk to Superbarn with no issues, although there’s more people here whinging about that than Kaleen shop owners fighting Giralang shops!

lobster said :

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/derelict-shops-to-go-but-high-court-challenge-still-on-20140912-10g2r1.html

it’s finally happening! The flattening. Not the building. But it’s a start!

It should have been demolished and cleaned up years and years ago!! Although I can only assume they’re fairly confident of getting it through court if they’ve finally started demolishing.

JC said :

gazket said :

Those pictures are disgusting , The gov need a kick in the arse and should be ashamed of themselves letting suburbs get like this, They taken large sums of money in rates from Giralang and this is the return they get.

The ACT gov to busy pushing gay marriage, making up namby pamby feel good laws and ramming light rail down our throats. It’s a pity they don’t put that sort of effort into things that actually matter to communities instead of serving their own self interests.

Would it of been so bad to have apartments there and a new set of shops built. It would of all been completed in two years. The gov own enough land in that area, there is plenty of space on Canapus Cres to build a new set of shops.

Don’t blame the government for this one. They have approved the re-development to get this sorted, including using the call in powers to get it moving. But they and the developers have being thwarted by vested commercial interests opposed to the development. What else do you want them to do?

As for the courts they too have already made a decision twice if I am not mistaken (in the supreme court and the court of appeal), which said vested interests didn’t agree with so have now taken it to the high court. So well outside the control of the ACT government, development supported by ACT government, doing everything they could to get it going, so think your rant is a bit out of order, in this case anyway.

I don’t think it is out of order , As we have seen with light rail the gov can ram through anything they like . The gov could at least enforce that the owner keep the site clean so ratepayers don’t have to look at a cesspit.

gazket said :

Those pictures are disgusting , The gov need a kick in the arse and should be ashamed of themselves letting suburbs get like this, They taken large sums of money in rates from Giralang and this is the return they get.

The ACT gov to busy pushing gay marriage, making up namby pamby feel good laws and ramming light rail down our throats. It’s a pity they don’t put that sort of effort into things that actually matter to communities instead of serving their own self interests.

Would it of been so bad to have apartments there and a new set of shops built. It would of all been completed in two years. The gov own enough land in that area, there is plenty of space on Canapus Cres to build a new set of shops.

Don’t blame the government for this one. They have approved the re-development to get this sorted, including using the call in powers to get it moving. But they and the developers have being thwarted by vested commercial interests opposed to the development. What else do you want them to do?

As for the courts they too have already made a decision twice if I am not mistaken (in the supreme court and the court of appeal), which said vested interests didn’t agree with so have now taken it to the high court. So well outside the control of the ACT government, development supported by ACT government, doing everything they could to get it going, so think your rant is a bit out of order, in this case anyway.

scentednightgardens said :

Why are all the suburban shops in Canberra located in pre-ordained sites like some huge lego town? Cant commercial forces dictate where the shops should be, based on optimum positioning, rather than the ghost voices of 60s and 70s town planners? And where are all the bleedin’ petrol stations hiding !!!!!!

Why, because that is how it was planned and in the 70’s it would have been the perfect model. But time moves on, people change but you just cannot click your fingers and wipe out the past especially with the design of a suburb. What you can do is change how you do things now, and if you look at Gungahlin suburbs for the most part the shops are no longer in the centre of the suburb. A couple of exceptions of course.

As for commercial forces, I think you will find that the shops are a perfect example of commercial forces dictating what was there was not viable, not just for the individual shop owners but the building owners too. The same has happened all over Canberra. Of course Woolworths and Coles get blamed, though in reality it is the consumer who is to blame because they voted with their feet. In Giralang though the shops started their decline when the larger group centre in Kaleen took off. It offered much more than what was on offer at Giralang and people voted with their wallets. The shop there of course was not Woolworths or Coles, it was Jewel, now a Supabarn. The very same people who have put in all the objections about this development.

As to where all the servo’s are, well for a start just next door to this site is a 7Eleven servo (there is none near the bigger Kaleen shopping centre). Elsewhere you can find them mostly in the larger group centres or town centres.

Gira2617 said :

magiccar9 said :

Only the residents of the surrounding suburbs to blame really. Shops like this don’t go out of business by choice, they do it because the community don’t support them – either directly or indirectly.
You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

The residents of Giralang did support the shops, the pub was very successful. We’ve been fighting for a quality local centre for 10 years. The shops are now held hostage in the court system, wasting taxpayers dollars because of other commercial interests who don’t care about the residents of Giralang.

The pub was well supported right up till the day it closed. The shops were let to run down to a dilapidated state. The gov couldn’t care less, they don’t have to look at it. The rigamortis court system is a joke, why does it take over 10 years to get a result ?

Those pictures are disgusting , The gov need a kick in the arse and should be ashamed of themselves letting suburbs get like this, They taken large sums of money in rates from Giralang and this is the return they get.

The ACT gov to busy pushing gay marriage, making up namby pamby feel good laws and ramming light rail down our throats. It’s a pity they don’t put that sort of effort into things that actually matter to communities instead of serving their own self interests.

Would it of been so bad to have apartments there and a new set of shops built. It would of all been completed in two years. The gov own enough land in that area, there is plenty of space on Canapus Cres to build a new set of shops.

scentednightgardens10:03 pm 23 Jul 14

That’s disgraceful. That commercial precinct looks more at home in the housing estates of 1980s London or rust belt USA – not in the centre of a community in the most affluent city in Australia. How does this happen? Why are all the suburban shops in Canberra located in pre-ordained sites like some huge lego town? Cant commercial forces dictate where the shops should be, based on optimum positioning, rather than the ghost voices of 60s and 70s town planners? And where are all the bleedin’ petrol stations hiding !!!!!!

Mick Gentleman MLA said :

The Development Application for the redevelopment of the Giralang Shops was approved by the former planning Minister, Simon Corbell, on 17 August 2011. The case has since been before the Courts. As the case remains in the Court system, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the case at this time. However, the government maintains the residents of Giralang deserve an appropriate range of convenience retail opportunities within walking or cycling distance from their homes.

So it’s been almost three years since the matter has been before the courts. Given how many court cases drag on for an eternity in this town the residents of Giralang will unfortunately have no choice but to tolerate this eyesore much to their chagrin.

magiccar9 said :

Only the residents of the surrounding suburbs to blame really. Shops like this don’t go out of business by choice, they do it because the community don’t support them – either directly or indirectly.
You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

The residents of Giralang did support the shops, the pub was very successful. We’ve been fighting for a quality local centre for 10 years. The shops are now held hostage in the court system, wasting taxpayers dollars because of other commercial interests who don’t care about the residents of Giralang.

magiccar9 said :

Only the residents of the surrounding suburbs to blame really. Shops like this don’t go out of business by choice, they do it because the community don’t support them – either directly or indirectly.
You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

I agree with that somewhat. Always annoyed me when people complained that the shops closed – when they only ever went there once a fortnight to buy milk on their way home, and shopped at Supabarn the rest of the time.

I think a majority of residents really only wanted the shops there to increase their house value.

Shops started dropping out and leaving years before the rent thing started happening. The hairdresser had been empty for probably 10 years before the rest.

Whether it is made into a car park or a Woolworths or units. It would still need to be demolished anyway. So I really think that they should just flatten the thing. It’s dangerous and gross the way it is.

There is apparently asbestos contamination at the derelict Downer shops. Given the age of the Giralang shops, there could be asbestos contamination through deconstruction.

You would think all parties including the government could at least agree to turn it into a paddock until all is resolved. It has been 9 years!!

Ghettosmurf874:11 pm 23 Jul 14

magiccar9 said :

Only the residents of the surrounding suburbs to blame really. Shops like this don’t go out of business by choice, they do it because the community don’t support them – either directly or indirectly.
You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

Or the owner who jacked up the rent, driving out the businesses there as it became unviable, because he wants to turn the whole thing into apartments.

Only the residents of the surrounding suburbs to blame really. Shops like this don’t go out of business by choice, they do it because the community don’t support them – either directly or indirectly.
You could probably throw one of those cans and hit 10 residents who didn’t support the shops there, yet are happy to complain about the dilapidated state of the lot afterwards.

We only have ourselves to blame for these types of issues.

Mick Gentleman MLA3:55 pm 23 Jul 14

The Development Application for the redevelopment of the Giralang Shops was approved by the former planning Minister, Simon Corbell, on 17 August 2011. The case has since been before the Courts. As the case remains in the Court system, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the case at this time. However, the government maintains the residents of Giralang deserve an appropriate range of convenience retail opportunities within walking or cycling distance from their homes.

Could. Not. Agree. More. An absolute disgrace.

That’s where my kids are going to school next year – and the school’s got a surprising amount going for it!

Holden Caulfield9:13 am 23 Jul 14

You’re so lucky to have shops like that. Imagine if you lived in Braddon and had to walk all the way to Civic for an IGA. Oh the humanity!

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