Canberra's Local Shops: Thriving, Struggling, and the Push for Community Spaces

Local shops are a distinctive feature of Canberra, dotted throughout the capital in a bid to provide convenient amenities and encourage a sense of community.

But over time, some have thrived, while others have struggled to secure tenants or avoid falling into disrepair.

The ACT government's recent budget is funding upgrades for Chisholm, Cooleman Court, Kingston and Kippax shopping centres.

The upgrades will cost about $417,000 over the next four years, and will go towards fixing pavements and paths, as well as landscaping, seating and bins around the four shopping precincts.

But the ACT Greens say more needs to be done, arguing commercial interest is not enough to ensure shops meet public need.

The call has renewed discussions around the purpose of local shops, and who is responsible for their upkeep and ensuring they are more than simply a place to pick up milk and bread.

'The loss of a 'meeting place'

ACT Greens MLA Laura Nuttall represents the electorate of Brindabella, home to the Richardson shops, which has not had any tenants since 2020.

The grocery store there closed down in 2019, but other shops in the complex were empty for years before that.

Now, it is fenced off to the public and has been described as "derelict".

Ms Nuttall said the closure had led to further issues at the site that were affecting the community.

"We just started to see a rise in antisocial behaviour, windows smashed up,"

"And when they boarded them up, some pretty awful antisocial graffiti and things like that [appeared].

Ms Nuttall said good local shops benefited from an adjacent "third place" like a park or playground where people socialised.

"Without some kind of meeting point to kind of anchor people there, we really saw that loss of community amenity, and there was nothing for people to do, so they stopped showing up,"

She said what was needed to create those spaces was a place to buy groceries — which was also what residents asked for most when surveyed about what was missing from Richardson.

The Chisholm shops are not far away by car, but Ms Nuttall said the 30-minute walk was too much for many residents who did not have access to a vehicle or did not drive.

The Richardson shops are privately owned and do not fall under the remit of the ACT government, but Ms Nuttall said she hoped some investment could be made to give the precinct a chance to come to life again.

"I think you need to see goodwill on both sides, both from the owners and from the government, when it comes to Richardson shops,"

'We all know each other'

Three kilometres away, the Chisholm shops are thriving, with multiple small businesses operating successfully.

Nicolas Lecointe, who manages L'épi Artisan Bakery, said the attitude among the businesses there was that they didn't want the centre to turn into something resembling a large shopping mall.

"Everybody knows each other,"

He said that all of the businesses "add to each other" rather than competing for customers.

"I'm really happy with the Chisholm Village, and I think that's what's the best for Chisholm community,"

Mr Lecointe said the additional budget funding could be spent on a larger playground.

"A bigger playground, I think, will be a big success for the community,"

"We'll bring family, grandparents, everybody together around a coffee, around a baguette."

Like Ms Nuttall, Mr Lecointe said he saw the value in a "third place" that added to the commercial aspects of local shops.

"They hang around the central part of the village, that could be the shops, and they come, they bring the family, and they stick around for a few hours,"

'We do receive a lot of complaints'

Further north, some businesses at the Mawson shops say poor layout and maintenance of the precinct make it harder to attract customers.

Uneven footpaths and graffiti deter customers and lead to complaints, Reece Travers, owner of Southlands Quality Meats, said.

But for Mr Travers, it's the location of his business in relation to the car park that creates the biggest obstacle.

"But once they're here, they know that we sell a great product, so we're doing okay."

A reliance on cars and parking is at the heart of the issue.

He said foot traffic provided about 20 per cent of their business, but otherwise they benefited from having been in place for long enough to have regular customers.

"We're lucky that we're in a great area so that people do still want their good quality products, so they'll put up with that,"

He acknowledged it was hard to find a solution but he wanted more to be done to create the kind of neighbourhood enjoyed in Chisholm.

"For the government, they do a good job tidying up the leaves and that sort of stuff,"

"But every time you call someone to clean up rubbish or people who are outside what they should be doing, you don't hear from them, nothing happens. The graffiti, again, nothing happens.

"Just listen to us."