Work has finally started on demolishing one of Orange’s worst eyesores, the remains of the former Kurim shopping centre in Glenroi.
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A construction fence has been placed around the property and workers have begun clearing the interior of the structure before the whole building comes down.
Orange Mayor Reg Kidd said there was finally “light at the end of the tunnel” for local residents who had dealt with the problem.
“It’s never a simple process when you’re dealing with the demolition of private property,” he said.
“That’s why this whole process has gone through the court to ensure that all involved can be represented.”
Last month the NSW Land & Environment Court ruled the owner had 60 days to demolish the building and clear the site with a deadline of May 23.
Shops owner Eddie Eid said he had tried to re-develop the shopping centre but his investors had pulled out.
He said it had cost him “a hell of a lot of money” to seek planning approval for a re-development.
However, he had agreed to demolish the structure.
He asked council to collect recyclable material from the site and take it to the tip for the benefit of the community.
However Cr Kidd said the court order required the owner to demolish the building and clear the site.
“Council fees can’t simply be put aside,” he said.
“Any request from Mr Eid would have to go to a full council meeting for discussion and decision, after a recommendation from staff or a motion from a council member.”
Mr Eid said once the site was cleared he would be open to offers for re-building or would consider selling the large block of land.
He said the site could have become a medical centre or community facility as he had planned.
“We don’t have enough medical centres,” he said.
“It’s going to stay, what can we do, until someone is interested in leasing it and starting to rebuild.
“I am looking to sell the land, I probably will put it up for sale.
“The council said it was an eyesore, they reckon it was unsafe, it wasn’t unsafe.”
Council’s planning and development committee chair Cr Russell Turner said it had been a long battle for council to clear the site.
“There’s no doubt residents around the former shopping centre would have liked to have seen something happening years ago,” he said.
“The outcome of this legal process means that it’s now the court, not the council, which had imposed a demolition order.
“Not taking action or not meeting the deadline on this court order would be a very serious matter.
“We’ve got some way to go, but it’s good to see real progress.”
The shopping centre opened in the early 1980s with six to eight businesses.
Former councillor Ron Gander said it closed in the early 2000s.
“It was fairly popular over there, when you first walked in there was a hardware store and there was a fish and chip shop,” he said.
However, he said shopkeepers left due to crime.
“You couldn’t stop the shoplifting, you couldn’t stop the graffiti, you couldn’t stop people breaking in.”