MOVING level rail crossings, student accommodation, multistorey car parks, all have been floated as future possibilities for the CBD.
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Urban design consultant SJB held a forum at Orange City Council chambers on Thursday as part of the Future City project, raising suggestions and ideas for a community reference panel to consider after months of research.
Feedback from the forum will help SJB narrow down the ideas before the plan is put out to wider public consultation.
The consultant presented a concept for an institutional precinct where the new Department of Industry building is being built, which included residential accommodation providing up to 100 units, the closure of Sale Street between Dalton and Prince streets for green space and aged housing at the old nurses quarters with up to 45 units, or 125 beds. An aged care proposal would be dependent on an operator.
It's an attempt to cast the net wide to look at all kinds of projects that could help transform Orange for the better.
- Orange City Council CEO David Waddell
It also planned for linkages to TAFE to improve public access and allow for future expansion.
Meanwhile at the civic centre, SJB suggested blocking off Byng Street between Lords Place and Peisley Street and changing the level rail crossing to March Street to better link the cultural hub to Robertson Park and bring it more into the CBD.
The consultant also suggested moving the proposed conservatorium and planetarium from the Northcourt to the Lords Place side, relocating parking spaces to a 350-space multistorey car park in the centre of the block and student accommodation at the former CF Williams site.
Orange City Council CEO David Waddell said while the project list was still in an early stage, he was pleased to see progress.
"After initial research, there were a number of more detailed studies of economic and retail capacity, a study of the current buildings and a study of how people are moving between local places," he said.
"This latest list of more than a hundred ideas is based on that research. It's also an attempt to cast the net wide to look at all kinds of projects that could help transform Orange for the better."
Councillor Joanne McRae attended and said the civic centre ideas were creative.
"There's some really exciting ideas on how we could re-energise parts of the CBD," she said.
Ideas have also been tabled on the Woolworths car park, McNamara Street and East Orange.
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