In the early 1990s, architect Wally Abrahams, a member of Kiama Council’s architect advisory committee, proposed a plan to consolidate the Kiama town centre.

This plan involved purchasing land adjoining the Akuna Street car park, including the old Mitre 10 store, in order to utilise the large land area behind Terralong Street to consolidate the central shopping precinct and make it more walkable

His idea was that the Mitre 10 store would form a conduit arcade linking to an extended shopping mall and car park behind Terralong Street.

Over the years Council adopted this idea and purchased the requisite land with the intention of realising this visionary plan.

Thirty-five years on, Council staff and Councillors lost track of this vision and found themselves owning a saleable “land asset” that could offset debt.

The sale of Akuna Street ended Council’s control over the site and dashed this plan.

Now we are facing a 14-storey enterprise that addresses a different purpose.

It’s sad to see how continuity and cultural knowledge is so easily lost by our decision makers and how easily good ideas are forgotten.

Since Wally proposed this idea the commercial shopping precinct has sprawled - it definitely isn’t walkable, there is little central parking and our town lacks a central focus.

Howard H Jones

(Kiama Councillor in the early 90s)