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Sunshine Rising: The revitalisation programme for Sunshine Town Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal,
9
(4),
339-352
(2016)
Abstract
This paper outlines a town centre management programme for Sunshine Town Centre, a traditional high street or main street centre in Metropolitan Melbourne, 11 kilometres west of Melbourne city centre. The programme was initiated in 2010 by the City of Brimbank — the local government authority that covers the suburb of Sunshine. At its core, the programme has pursued an integrated whole-of-local-government approach to the centre and has sought to forge strong partnerships with private-sector businesses and property owners. This paper identifies the issues, processes, achievements, challenges and lessons learned from the programme over its first six years of operation.
Keywords: partnerships; town centre management; revitalisation; Australia; integration; coordination
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Stephen Sully is an urban planner who has worked in and around traditional town centres throughout Australia for the past 25 years. He has specialist skills in economic development, urban design, strategic planning, town centre revitalisation and advocacy. He has worked at senior executive levels for both state and local government and ran a successful private planning, design and development consultancy (Planning by Design), which specialised in activity centre planning, development and management. His work in town centres has focused on a coordinated approach to the physical, economic, social and operational aspects of a town centre and the establishment of partnerships between all the key players. Stephen joined Brimbank City Council as Director of City Development in 2010, a portfolio that included urban planning, development control, economic development and local laws. A major priority for the council was the revitalisation of Sunshine Town Centre. Stephen has spent the last six years establishing and working on the programme, initially in his role as a director and, more recently, through a newly created advocacy and positioning role for the council.
