Labor candidate for Ward 1 Don McGregor has called for the return of a community think tank to identify ways to revitalise Upper Mountains town centres.
“My idea is a community interactive process similar to that carried out in Katoomba many years ago,” Mr McGregor said.
“While I do not see this being as large as the ‘Katoomba Charrette’ [project in the late 90s], we should try to involve the ideas of as many community members as possible.
“One my priorities if elected to council will be to revitalise the old Blackheath Mainstreet Program.
“Blackheath is one of the Blue Mountains’ premier villages and we need to start now to do important planning to seek funding to revitalise the town.
“I see no reason why we could not also involve the town of Mount Victoria as well, either as part of this proposed process or in turn, one specifically for that town.
“A properly structured strategic plan for Blackheath and Mount Victoria would allow council to approach the State Government with achievable funding options for improvements.”
Mr McGregor said if elected he would be open to suggestions on the best way forward to begin such a process and would welcome ideas from residents and community groups.
