A PUSH by three councillors to force Goulburn’s new Target store to incorporate heritage images into its storefront was quashed at the most recent council meeting, when the majority sided with the retail chain.
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Initiated by Cr Neil Penning and supported by Crs Carol James and Andrew Banfield, the group hoped to include some locally significant images into 27 strip windows built into the Auburn and Bradley Street store front. Instead, advertising graphics portraying grey silhouettes of people and birds on a white background will adorn the windows.
Cr Penning said he was searching for a compromise between the advertising needs of the company and the surrounding heritage conservation area.
“I don’t think what’s proposed fits the streetscape. This is an opportunity to work with some of these hardnosed retailers,” he said.
“I think the community would think it’s a benefit to have some sort of compromise here…to have a little bit of them, and a little bit of us.”
He moved that there be scope in the development application for some of the windows to be fixed with Goulburn heritage images. However, in a letter to Council, Target was adamant that it didn’t want to incorporate the images.
“We understand what council is trying to achieve, but there needs to be clear communication to the customer and the community that the region’s iconic buildings and features should not be incorporating a national retailer,” new store delivery manager Ian Croft stated.
“They are significant in their own right and should be displayed as a reflection of the Goulburn community, not Target.”
Cr Carol James said the Main Street Working Party was getting some heritage drawings together to bring back to its January meeting. But Deputy Mayor Bob Kirk and the remaining five councillors opposed Cr Penning’s move.
“At the end of the day, it’s a retail chain and not a Goulburn chain,” Cr Kirk said.
“What did we think they were going to put in their windows? “Do we tell all the businesses on Auburn St what they can put in their windows?”
In his report to Council, director of planning Chris Stewart said the proposed graphics complied with planning legislation, and recommended that Target’s advertising DA be approved accordingly.
