Fresh faces, 'beauty', and 30-year gripes could shape the future of the CBD

If you ask Tamworth Regional Council (TRC), the buzzword is "beautiful".

TRC has several "beautification" projects planned for the CBD, from planting greenery to hang down from the retaining wall at the bottom end of Kable Avenue, to the revitalisation of hedges along Peel Street, to tree-planting and repaving the footpath along Brisbane Street.

But a local developer says council should focus more on the main street's "root" issues, literally.

Managing director of Majeti Investment Group Charles Sfeir says he gets phone calls almost every week from commercial tenants on Peel Street with damaged pipes.

"We need to get an expert arborist to tell us what can be done with the trees, because they're affecting the infrastructure under the footpaths," Mr Sfeir told the Leader.

According to the developer - whose office sits next door to Ray Walsh House in the city centre - TRC regularly sends workers to chop roots, trim branches, and clean the street.

But Mr Sfeir says he'd encourage a more fundamental approach to the problems that come with having near-30-year-old trees in a hustling and bustling city centre.

"We have a very, very vibrant main street. If you go to any other small city you'll see a lot of vacancies, but in Tamworth we hardly have any vacant shops," he said.

"It takes so much time and effort to clean the street every day, but it's not showing because every morning the starlings and pigeons ruin that work."

The tree problem is one of the reasons the developer put his hand up to join TRC's City Centre Working Group in 2024.

"I reckon council is doing a great job, but hopefully I can help make it a little bit better," Mr Sfeir said.

"I hope by joining the group I can help to contribute to the city's ongoing growth and vibrancy."

One idea the developer says he'll suggest is slowly replacing the trees with younger species that have less invasive roots.

Another bugbear for the local developer is council's push for more shop-top living in the CBD.

Mr Sfeir owns several commercial buildings in the city centre and says building upwards is often time-consuming since many properties are heritage-listed.

"Establishing inner city living is important to the vibrancy of the CBD, but it is extremely hard to work on class 4 buildings and change the upper levels to accommodation," he said.

"Landlords in Peel Street will continue to find it challenging unless, with council's help, we can find a solution."

Mr Sfeir isn't the only new face on the City Centre Working Group. Warwick Stimson of Stimson Urban & Regional Planning was also confirmed to the group's ranks at council's November meeting.

The Leader reached out to Mr Stimson to ask what he'd like to see done in the city centre, but he said he'd prefer to attend his first working group meeting before making any comment.

Oliver Smith from Tamworth's Junior Business Chamber and Tamworth Hotel co-owner Luke Prout are also relatively new faces on the working group, joining in August this year.

The working group is still looking for a landscape architect and an urban designer to round out its expertise.