All too often, Nowra gets a bad press. Its CBD is dull, it’s poorly maintained, its town planning is a disaster – or so the critics say. However, take a walk around its old precinct between Berry Street and the showground and all those negative assessments quickly fall away.
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This part of town is home to some lovely streets and grand old homes that eclipse those in many of our neighbouring towns, Berry included.
For visitors passing down the highway, there is no inkling of the beauty secreted behind the ugly facades, car yards and concrete overpass. Even for residents, it’s all too easy to overlook the charms of old Nowra.
For those who live in the old part of town, it’s a different story. They know exactly how special their little patch of ground is – how the town’s history is ingrained in the high ceilinged weatherboard homes that line the streets. Naturally, they want to preserve their neighbourhood.
Pressure is mounting on the old neighbourhood with many of its blocks zoned for medium density development. That means apartment blocks.
Nowra is facing some tough choices. To prosper it needs to grow. That means more housing. However, hemmed in by flood plains and forests, land is scarce. The argument goes that building out is problematic so building up is an increasingly attractive option. But the question must be asked: is destroying the old to make way for the new the right way to go? Will we regret choices we make now in years to come, just as we have with the destruction of beautiful CBD hotels to make way for unlovely modern buildings? Should there be a more considered approach to balancing the needs of growth with the desire to retain history and character?
The future of old Nowra has become a council election issue, with the Greens calling for a rezoning that would preserve the old precinct. They argue that the old part of town could easily translate into tourist dollars.
Nowra is an undersold destination. Very few people who visit the Shoalhaven’s beaches are aware of the hinterland drawcards – apart from the ice cream stops in Berry and Kangaroo Valley.
We rightly focus on making more of the river but we should not lose sight of our other assets, including old Nowra. It would be a crying shame if we lost it forever, replacing it with characterless unit blocks.