Chamber of Commerce chairman Kevin Grey hosted the forum at the civic centre.

The Katherine Times ran a series of stories earlier this year, highlighting the need for a solution. 

Phil Harris from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics, with the responsibility for the Stuart Highway which forms Katherine’s main street – Katherine Terrace – and council CEO Rob Jennings, first addressed the forum.

Mr Grey, a main street businessman, said there were outside influences, such as internet shopping, which were partly responsible for the large number of empty shops in the CBD.

“As shopkeepers, we need to be doing our bit … we want to make the place look better,” he said.

Mr Grey agreed Katherine could be a “hard place to find things if you are not a local”.

Signage was a recurring theme of the forum.

Mr Grey said it was important Katherine had a long term vision for its main shopping area.

Mr Harris said more than a million dollars had been spent in recent years on Katherine Terrace.

He said there was an ongoing program to improve the main street and in recent times money had been diverted to maximise irrigation of trees, lawns and garden beds in light of water restrictions.

Mr Harris said one issue of public seating had been raised many times by shopkeepers who had asked for many to be removed because of food littering and wafting cigarette smoke.

He said taps had been placed at regular intervals along the terrace for shopkeepers to hose problem areas.

One participant raised issues of street cleaning and said current cleaning methods left a trail of dirty sludge behind.

Mr Harris said many methods had been tried since the pavers were installed in the terrace including mechanical cleaning but even sand blasting and diluted acid had been tried.

Mr Harris said now the issue had been raised, it would be further investigated.

“There is money that has been set aside by the department for the main street and we are interested in community ideas on how to spend it,” he said.

Mr Harris also commented that a truck bypass proposed for Katherine may not happen for more than 20 years, primarily because it required a major funding commitment.

Mr Jennings presented plans for the future of Katherine and while there was a heavy focus on Railway Terrace, which the council controls, because the department had control of the Katherine Terrace.

Mr Jennings said community feedback was important for building plans which could then attract government funding and used the hot springs development as an example.

The forum was told planning needed to make the town “friendlier” to cars and caravans.

There was a call for an outlet for art, particularly Indigenous art, in the main street.

“Signs on some shops are discoloured and old, some businesses have left, leaving their old signs behind which makes the town look like it is dying,” one said.

There was some discussion about how to attract new businesses to the empty shops and a suggestion from Tourism NT about using posters promoting local attractions on front windows as a stop-gap solution.

A proposal was made to introduce more Indigenous culture into the “story” of the town centre.

Some of the new startup thrift shops were located in inappropriate places, the forum was told.

The forum was told all the ideas raised would be collected and considered and further community forums would be held in a few months to further promote the advancement of the main street.