The draft proposal includes more pedestrian crossings along Yambil Street, Kookora Street, Railway Street and Benerembah Street, more car parks away from Banna Avenue and the transformation of Kooyoo Street as a shared market street.

The proposal also includes a youth precinct at Olympic Park with facilities for basketball, table tennis and a playground.

There is also a recommendation for a bicycle network and plans to promote a greater diversity of activities along the city’s canal.

Griffith Mayor John Dal Broi said the Griffith Business Chamber had put together a proposal for business owners to pay a $200 levy each year to allow for the implementation of the CBD strategy.

“Brett Stonestreet and I need to meet with the business chamber and consider the proposal,” Cr Dal Broi said.

“We at looking at borrowing some funds - if we don’t borrow some funds to upgrade Yambil Street and Kooyoo Street, for example, the likelihood is this will drag on for years. We want to start doing some work to upgrade the central business district.”

Cr Dal Broi said he believed the total cost could amount to about $10 million.

“It’s a big spend but we need to get started,” he said.

Griffith Business Chamber president Paul Pierotti said council was presented with a list of key priorities at a recent chamber meeting.

Among the chamber’s priorities are development of the old police station, relocation of the city’s ambulance station and fire station.

Another priority is the relocation of the visitor centre and art gallery to the Clock building and free Wi-Fi in Banna Avenue.

The chamber is also pushing for the establishment of a CBD Committee to oversee implementation of the strategy.

“We would be in favour of focusing on the most in-need areas first,” Mr Pierotti said.

“The highest priority areas would be Banna Avenue and Yambil Street.”

Mr Pierotti said the business chamber was happy to continue to discuss the strategy with council, but wanted answers about when it would be implemented and how it would be funded.

“We’re concerned that council has had CBD strategies in the past that have been put in the drawer,” Mr Pierotti said.

“We don’t want to see any further discussion of the strategy without a clear indication of how it will be funded and a timeline of when it will be implemented.”

Mr Pierotti said business owners thought a revamp of the CBD was overdue.

“If we implement this strategy it will add value to these businesses, but there is already an obligation for council to upkeep and further develop our city,” Mr Pierotti said.

He said business owners were positive about the planned changes to the CBD.

“There were quite a few business owners at our chamber meeting and there was an incredible feeling of excitement,” Mr Pierotti said.

“You can see people are very positive about this happening and they want it to happen sooner rather than later. They don’t want it to be a pie in the sky project.”

Mr Pierotti said the chamber supported closing off Kooyoo Street for some events.

In the draft strategy, the recommendation is to temporarily close Kooyoo Street for vehicular access on weekends to support a street market, events or festivals.

There is also a recommendation to develop Neville Place into public space that is the civic heart of the city.

This would include a grassed area, a central art work in the space to complement the Nancy Blumer Memorial and developing an outdoor theatre and function space.

The strategy also recommends establishing the city centre as a convenient cycling destination.

This would include increasing the number of bicycle lanes throughout the city, developing a bicycle network, providing bicycle parking facilities at major destinations and retail precincts and establishing bike hire at the visitor centre for tourists and backpackers.

The bicycle network recommendation also includes promoting Griffith as a cycling city and developing a bicycle recreational loop around the city.

The strategy also recommends the inclusion of street furniture, lighting, paving surfaces and public art along the city canal.

The recommendation also includes developing a quality pedestrian and cycle network along the canal, incorporating water features that may encourage interaction or play and investigating the potential for incorporating water activities in the canal such as gondola rides, canoeing and or paddle boats.

The strategy also recommends encouraging higher density residential development in the CBD and creating memorable entrances at the city’s gateways.

The business chamber also recommends the city host five festivals. These include La Festa (incorporating a sidewalk sale), Griffith’s Biggest Lap, Festival of the Gardens, a Christmas festival and a laneway festival.

The draft proposal can be downloaded from council’s website.