Stirling Village Mall Fire Recovery

A major fire in the Stirling Village Mall on Sunday 15 October has destroyed the Woolworths store and considerably impacted other businesses within the mall.

Adelaide Hills Council have activated a Stirling Village Mall Fire Recovery Team to manage our response and support the community following this incident. Below you will find information and resources that support the recovery process.

Polaris Retail Fundamentals Workshop

The Polaris Centre, in collaboration with Ana Maria Munoz, a seasoned business owner and devoted advocate of small shops, will deliver this free, Retail Fundamentals workshop.

The world of retail business has changed with the ever-growing online shopping experience & industry. To remain competitive, relevant and profitable retail business people need to adapt and embrace contemporary strategies and tactics to compete with their online retail cousins.

Whether you’re new in retail or have been in the game for a while, taking a fresh look at your growth tactics is always a smart move. At this workshop we'll delve into 18 recognised ways to amplify your retail success.

The insights that will be covered in the Retail Fundamentals workshop include:

Understanding your customers, providing excellent customer service, improving shopfront and curb appeal, improving in-store experiences, loyalty programs, in-store events, marketing, ecommerce and much, much more!

After completing this workshop, you will have the opportunity for a 90-minute FREE Business Consultation.

Also, on offer is a personalised and tailored - Ignite Your Retail Business Mentoring Program.

Places are limited! Book your FREE seat here.

For information, visit the Polaris website.

Rural Business Support

Unexpected disruption of your business can happen at any time. Making sure your business is prepared in the face of potential disruption is key to minimising the impact on you and this can be done by having a business continuity plan.

Rural Business Support are providing a FREE consultation service to assist businesses in the Adelaide Hills to develop a business continuity plan.

This will involve a one on one consultation from Paul Brown, Business Financial Counsellor and will look at how your business can respond to unexpected events including:

• Fire
• Flood
• Power outage
• Water outage
• Key person injury, illness, absence from the business.
• Eftpos breakdown

The consultation will provide you with the tools and support to develop a personalised plan which will enable the most junior members of your team to follow guidelines at a time of extreme pressure.

To book a free consultation please contact:

• Paul Brown
• Phone: 0437 535 131
• Email: p.brown@ruralbusinesssupport.org.au

Friday 23 February – trees, future plans and business support

Monitoring of trees and vegetation impacted by the Stirling Village Mall fire will continue to be monitored by council staff over the next few months. While some plants appear to have fully recovered, some additional planting will take place in the garden beds in the upcoming planting season.

Council has developed some accessibility concepts to improve how the Stirling Village Mall site and surrounding shops are accessed by the community. Funding options are now being explored to support this work.

For more information about current available business support, see the recent “Information for Local Business” update.

Leyton Funds, the property owners of the Stirling Village Mall, are progressing the staged demolition of the buildings and working closely with their insurers and all their tenants. A lot of engineering work has been done over the last couple of months and it is now clear that they will have to demolish the remaining structures which is expected to happen shortly.

Leyton Funds has said they will continue to engage with Council closely as plans develop for rebuilding which is a big focus for them moving forward.

Thursday 2 November - site safety and security

Council is in communication with the property owners (Leyton Funds) who remain focused on prioritising the safety and security of the site. Initial demolition will soon commence to ensure stability and safety on the site so that fire investigators and engineers can enter the building for a more complete assessment of the site, including the full extent of damage. This initial demolition will include the removal of two large trees that are immediately adjacent to the south eastern corner of the front of the building, that had previously grown through the building structure and have been significantly fire affected.

The impact on parking for businesses (patrons and staff) is front of mind with availability of parking spaces being impacted by the safety perimeter set up around the site to manage current instability of the building, impending demolition and access for contractors. Parking impacts are likely to be long term and Council is considering a number of options to assist with parking requirements for those affected businesses.

The property owners will continue to engage with Council and update further as the situation evolves. They have stressed that these initial works are only about making the property as safe and secure as possible.

Wednesday 1 November - support for wellbeing and mental health

People who are seeking some support for their wellbeing and mental health as a result of this fire event, can contact Connect Care (part of Summit Health) on 8406 7715. The Summit Health Centre is located at 85 Wellington Road Mt Barker.

You can self-refer to this service and if you advise Connect Care that you are seeking support due to the recent fire event in Stirling, this service will be available to you for free. See the section on Support for Health and Wellbeing below for further resources.

Monday 23 October - damage to trees and gardens

As a direct result of the radiant heat generated from the fire and smoke, significant levels of foliar wilt has been observed to many trees located both to the southern and northern sides of Mount Barker Road. Considerable impacts to the mature Pin Oaks situated within the Stirling Library lawns has also occurred.

Council staff are currently in the process of assessing the extent of impacts to tree health and will be implementing a variety of treatments to improve the trees’ growing conditions. You are likely to see an increased watering regime and other soil improvement measures.

On a positive note, seasonally the trees are at a period of time that will allow for new leaf formation to regenerate. The trees are already showing signs of recovery with new foliage generation which should hopefully reduce the extent of impacts from the loss of leaf surface area.

Affected plants in garden beds have also been given additional fertiliser and water to improve their condition. Both trees and garden beds will be monitored over the coming weeks.

Tuesday 18 October - business impacts

Adelaide Hills Council Mayor Dr Jan-Claire Wisdom and staff have met with the Stirling Mall owners and the major tenant Woolworths onsite to discuss the current situation and future plans. At this point in time their major focus is on the safety and security of the site. A lot is still very unclear with many more assessments are required to ascertain the full extent of the damage. This will not be a quick process and Council is supportive of the owner’s intention to undertake the due diligence required.

The businesses and their staff located within the Mall are an important part of our Stirling community and at this stage we understand that:

• Woolworths will redeploy existing staff to other stores
• Bakers Delight will continue to operate at its main store
• Stockpot Stirling will temporarily operate at Stirling Patisserie
• Green Dispensary will remain closed but customers are able to collect their scripts from healthSAVE in the Oak Plaza
• Stirling Variety Meats, Sushi Delight and Cibo are currently assessing their options.

Each individual circumstance will take some time to work through and in the meantime we encourage you to support the Village through your continued patronage.

Whether you’re a resident or a business owner, we recognise that this significant fire event may have impacted you and it’s important to look after your health and wellbeing. This type of event can be incredibly stressful.

People who are seeking some support for their wellbeing and mental health as a result of this fire event, can also contact Connect Care (part of Summit Health) on 8406 7715. The Summit Health Centre is located at 85 Wellington Road Mt Barker.

You can self-refer to this service and if you advise Connect Care that you are seeking support due to the recent fire event in Stirling, this service will be available to you for free.

We also encourage you to see your regular GP or a trusted health professional. Alternatively, you can call lifeline on 13 11 14 to talk to someone.

To help consider the safety of your people, property or business we suggest you undertake the following when it’s safe to move back into a premises:

• Check air quality within premises
• Check and replace air conditioner filters
• Wipe down surfaces and equipment including light fittings and handles
  
• Be mindful of soft furnishings such as carpet, curtains and chairs that may need to be deep cleaned as they will hold residual smoke taint that could have heath impacts
• Staff should consider wearing respiratory masks as appropriate

It would be worthwhile to check with your insurance provider regarding the costs that they cover in relation to any clean up activity.

Note, this information has been taken from the SA Health website

Fires can affect one business (a single premise fire), or it may affect numerous food businesses (bushfire, shopping centre, food court). Fires are unfortunate and often terrifying but once the fire has been put out, it is important to understand that fire damage can jeopardise the safety of food.

It is the responsibility of the food business that has been damaged by a fire to assess its own food safety risks; however Local Government may be able to help with this assessment

We have attached some information below specifically for food-based businesses from SA Health.

As many of you would be aware, yesterday Stirling Village Mall was engulfed in flames destroying Woolworths and damaging the complex. While the full impact of the fire on all businesses within the complex is yet to be determined, there is no doubt this disaster is devastating for all involved.

Stirling Village has a long history in Stirling, a hub for community and businesses alike. A loss like this has sent a shockwave through our community.

The Stirling Business Association extends our deepest condolences to Stirling Village and its tenants and will work alongside these businesses to provide assistance in any way possible.

“Many have been asking me how they can help which demonstrates our strong community spirit. At this point in time, the best support is to continue to shop in Stirling and support those businesses still trading. The loss of such a centrepiece will have a flow on effect to our community. Now is the time to bring your business to Stirling, not away.” Sarah Burchell, Chair Stirling Business Association.

If you would like to talk to our recovery lead, please contact Miranda Hampton, Senior Community Resilience Officer 0437 123 904 or mhampton@ahc.sa.gov.au