Locals living and working in Sunshine have weighed in on reinvigorated discussions to make the suburb Melbourne’s second CBD by 2050.
A report released by WoMEDA (West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance) in October, seen by Star Weekly, highlighted strategies to “supercharge the economic and social future of Melbourne’s west” with a focus on developing Sunshine into a second CBD.
Sunshine Business Association vice-president John Girardi, who has lived in Sunshine for more than 20 years, said he’s feeling positive about the suburb’s future.
“Businesses are excited…It’s been talked about for years, but it’s sort of gone off the table,” Mr Girardi said.
“With the [WoMEDA] conference the consensus seems to have converged onto Sunshine becoming the next CBD and I think it’s going to happen.
“It’s easy to fall back on the negative stuff like crime, which is a problem… but there’s a lot of positive change and a lot more coming.”
Mr Girardi cited the Sunshine superhub and the Vietnamese museum projects as positive developments.
Thuan An restaurant owner Julie Tran agrees there’s a lot to look forward to but said there’s still more work to be done.
“The hype has been good but I think Sunshine overall will need to do a lot more for it to actually happen. It feels like a far away thing, not something so close in time,” Ms Tran said.
Ms Tran said the Sunshine precinct facilities need to be upgraded to retain visitors in Sunshine and boost the local economy.
“We’re kind of waiting for something to happen so that we kind of get some benefits as well,” she said.
“I’m hoping by that time [in 2050] that it boosts all the business. At the moment, businesses aren’t doing that great….I think that also has to do with the economy being so bad.”
Ms Tran said ongoing crime in the area is also “a bit of a deterrent for people coming into Sunshine.”
Former Brimbank mayor John Hedditch said Sunshine has the potential to be a wonderful second CBD.
“I think it’s timely. It’s an outcome that people have seen as a really sensible one long-term,” he said.
However, Mr Hedditch said he would like to see more commitment from both levels of government to the Sunshine station masterplan “so that developers and investors in business and real estate have some certainty and aren’t second guessing everything.”
“At the moment no one really knows what the government actually wants as far as Sunshine goes…It needs to be set out in a Sunshine precinct plan… that’s also a missing link,” he said.
Mr Hedditch said amenity around Sunshine needs to be improved to help attract future investments and services to the area too.
“There needs to be spaces and places for people to be able to meet, to sit outside and have a coffee… good outdoor spaces,” he said.
He also said connectivity to Sunshine could be further improved, including implementing a rail service from New South Wales and the north-east of Victoria to Sunshine.
“That would give Sunshine the complete suite of connectivity to all regions and to the Metro Tunnel and the airport, and that connectivity is something that will bring people here.”
