Stop the rot in Umina

Does anyone remember what the CBD of Dee Why was like in the 70s?

It was a pleasant, mainly main-street shopping precinct.

Have you seen it lately?

It's a hodge-podge of ugly, rundown, small shops in the main street with another ugly precinct around the corner.

Dee Why is the unloved Cinderella and workhorse for the rest of the Warringah Peninsula.

Take a look at what's happening in our Umina Beach CBD.

There are certainly not enough Umina residents to use three large supermarkets and our very own McDonalds.

And then, of course, there's to be a Bunnings to stop our new small hardware shop in its tracks (after one of the supermarkets blithely wiped Mitre 10 out of existence).

We have some very good small cafes who won't be able to compete with Maccas and their cheap (and mostly fattening) snacks.

McDonalds is to be just around the corner, in one of the busiest parts of Ocean Beach Rd, just where drivers need to be extra careful.

And the thing is, there's already a Maccas at Woy Woy! And Woy Woy is a hub, with people living in all directions, not Umina, which is at the end of the line.

Does Umina really want or need to become the unloved Cinderella of the Woy Woy Peninsula?

Why not stop the rot now?

Email, 17 Sep 2011 Fran Adams, Umina