Lord Mayor reaches out

Lord Mayor Sally Capp held two meetings with all resident and precinct groups in the municipality on Friday, April 24, in an effort to ensure the City the Melbourne stays across local issues amid the coronavirus crisis.

With the Docklands Chamber of Commerce (DCC) represented in the precinct groups meeting, the Lord Mayor said it was important to keep in regular contact with local business associations and groups given the current “tough business conditions”.

“We got an understanding of how the lockdown is impacting different areas from the CBD to Docklands and Southbank – and it is obvious that a lot of businesses are struggling to get through this,” Cr Capp said.

“It’s clear that many businesses have already started planning for when the recovery phase begins. There were views put forward that any recovery plan needs to be done in stages to consider the potentially long-lasting effect of the pandemic on business conditions.”

As part of the City of Melbourne’s COVID-19 business grants program, four local businesses, Xary, Good Cycles, Kinfolk and Optom on Collins, received grants as part of the program’s first round.

DCC president Johanna Maxwell thanked the Lord Mayor for her ongoing support and said she looked forward to “ongoing dialogue.”

Local residents from the Docklands Community Forum also tuned into the Lord Mayor’s meeting with resident groups, which she said would continue to be held “regularly”.

“There was a huge amount discussed including the impact of construction noise, concerns about social distancing in parks, an increase in abandoned household hard rubbish and the challenges of health management in apartment blocks,” the Lord Mayor said •