At last the starting bell has rung and we are ricocheting towards a beautiful new streetscape in Artarmon Village.

So far local businesses are in shock and have been smashed by the partial closure of the street. Some are recording revenue losses of 60-70%. Village businesses expected Hampden Road parking to be closed one block at a time. I don’t think anyone was prepared for both sides of three blocks to be closed simultaneously.

We now expect some significant business closures if this level of disruption persists for more than a few months. It’s still a mystery why the planners could not comprehend the village’s dependence on convenient, accessible parking and the arterial nature of Hampden Road for school drop-offs, ambulance movements and access to Royal North Shore Hospital.

Residents tell us they use Artarmon Village shops because they can park easily on the way to and from school and work. It also makes sense that a once in a 50-year street upgrade would include cleaning up the Hampden Road façade and getting rid of the old bent power poles.

I can’t tell you how much the shopping precinct appreciates the support we have received from Artarmon Progress Association, Artarmon Public School and Councillor Georgie Roussac. The Love Your Locals loyalty program is really gaining momentum. It is great to see people striding along the street with their LYL card in the air, accumulating stamps like coconut on a lamington. Congratulations to all the winners.

Welcome on board to these new and re-established AVI members: • Centro Artarmon, 66 Hampden Road • Agius Colour & Interior Design, 5/96 Hampden Road • VAVA Hair, 3 Wilkes Avenue • Artarmon Sushi Bar, 102 Hampden Road • P’zazz Hair Studio, 1A Broughton Road

Our website upgrade is under way thanks to a Smarty Grant from Willoughby City Council. All Artarmon Village Inc members will be introduced and highlighted on the site with photos and 4K video. We envisage the website will be the go-to source of information for the roadworks, local events and community initiatives. You can check out the old website here www.artarmonvillage. com.au before it disappears forever.

In the past three decades I have personally been involved with three petitions for a public toilet in the Village and in the late 90s handed a 4,000-signature petition to Gladys Berejiklian MP. It looks like my dream will finally come true in 2024. On behalf of all the Artarmon businesses, we want to thank our residents and workers who make such an effort to support us despite the obstacles. #Heartarmon