Street furniture that doubles as seating and performance platforms have begun popping up in Forster's waterside precinct and on Wharf Street.
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Painted in a bright resort blue, the structures are part of the on-going Vibrant Spaces initiative.
"The Vibrant Spaces concept embraces community ownership of the street, and the seat/platforms provide creative artists with a stage for performance arts of all kinds," MidCoast Council economic development co-ordinator, Robyn Brennan said.
"If the platforms prove popular, we'll be looking to install more at select locations."
MidCoast Council and local businesses have continued to work on initiatives to add colour and vitality to main streets and town centres throughout the pandemic.
Also making an appearance across the region's main streets is a program of colourful banners
The first town to fly the flags is Gloucester to celebrate an upgrade of Queen Street.
"The next location to receive the street banners will be Victoria Street, Taree, which will also receive a general spruce up, with maintenance and restoration works on existing art installations and seating within the CBD area," Ms Brennan said.
Three sets of brightly coloured banners will be rolled out progressively, both unifying Mid Coast towns and providing unique identifiers for the area.
Gloucester and Barrington's flags will embrace a mountains and hinterland theme, Taree and Wingham will celebrate rivers and valleys, with Forster, Harrington, Old Bar, Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens sporting a distinct beaches and lakes flavour.
COVID19 restrictions have not dampened the Vibrant Spaces initiative, which hands the streets back to businesses and community to create hubs of colour, entertainment and activity of all kinds, Ms Brennan said.
The Vibrant Spaces concept embraces community ownership of the street, and the seat/platforms provide creative artists with a stage for performance arts of all kinds.
- Robyn Brennan
In fact, Vibrant Spaces has allowed many local food businesses to easily expand onto footpaths, providing more seating while maintaining social distancing requirements.
"Vibrant Spaces is about reviving the main street as a traditional meeting place of community, with the creation of spaces that are simply more attractive to linger and chat, chill out, share meals or shop."
"It's free for businesses to join the Vibrant Spaces program and businesses, working together with their communities, can achieve great things.
It's good news for customers and community alike as the streets become alive.
"Tuncurry's makeover is a great example of what can be achieved with everyone working together over a jam-packed week to revitalise Manning Street and to reflect the town's history, heritage and unique location on Wallis Lake."
Other centres with strong Vibrant Spaces participation include Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest, Nabiac, Stroud, Bulahdelah, Blueys Beach/ Boomerang Beach and Diamond Beach.
Church Street and the Meeting Place in Denison Street Gloucester will be next in line for seating improvements.
The banners and platform seating has been provided thanks to funding from the NSW State Government as part of the Bushfire Community Resilience and Economic Recovery fund.
For more information, and to register to participate in Vibrant Spaces, visit the website.
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