New art visions for Bunbury CBD

A European-style art piazza could be the centrepiece of the city’s highly-anticipated cultural precinct, according to the Mayor.

Bunbury City Council is expected to make a decision on setting aside money for the ambitious plans at its meeting next week.

The Civic and Cultural Precinct plan includes a multi-storey development on the Wittenoom Street carpark to include ground floor retail stores, several levels of parking and potentially residential apartments on top.

Mayor Gary Brennan told theSouth Western Times a stretch of Wittenoom Street between Wellington and Prinsep streets could also be closed off to allow for an impressive “art piazza” between the high-rise building and Bunbury Regional Art Galleries.

“That space could be turned into an art piazza and pedestrian area,” he said.

“I can envision street art and shading for people to enjoy, similar to a European village where people can congregate and socialise.”

Mr Brennan said the precinct could resemble Perth’s Cathedral Square, described as an urban neighbourhood bounded by the city library and Perth Town Hall.

If endorsed next week, an amount of money yet to be disclosed will be put aside to develop an urban design and future work on how the council could further develop the space.

The council will also consider whether to take on the development internally or investigate a possible joint venture, according to Mr Brennan.

The precinct has been in the pipelines for more than a year with the council holding several community consultation forums regarding the development.

Mr Brennan said while it could be up to another two years before people would start to see the development take shape, it was an exciting project that required a lot of planning.

“We need to take our time with it,” he said.

“But at some stage the city will need to look at a multi-level carpark in the CBD.”

Previous plans also included transformation of the carpark next to the art galleries into a Gallery Square to be used as public open space for markets, pop-up shops and street performers.

It is estimated the council will need to borrow $6.5 million and rely on a further $5 million contribution from State and Federal governments for the development.