Wood said in Elizabeth Street, green astro turf had been put in and then ripped up, and street furniture had been installed and then removed.

“I think we need to avoid this, this misspent ratepayer money, by getting it as right as we can in the first place, by working with the businesses in the area,” he said.

Sam Di Nucci operates a newsagent on Errol Street in North Melbourne and said the street was suffering, with his trade last month a third of what he did the previous month.

“It is a bit of a ghost town, not only that the street looks run-down, there is nothing bright about it, it needs lighting, it needs trees or flower pots to decorate it a little bit,” he said. “Anything like that we would be in favour of.”

Di Nucci said Errol Street had suffered from office workers not returning to nearby offices after lockdown but acknowledged this was outside the lord mayor’s remit.

“North Melbourne was a hub with a lot of offices in the surrounding area, and the staff helped keep the businesses afloat as well as the locals,” he said. “I don’t know who has the powers to change any of that.”

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In Lygon Street a recurring complaint from traders has been high crime levels with business owners calling on the City of Melbourne to install security cameras.

Wood said the $28 million would not include security cameras but “our city safety policy which we’ll be coming out with soon will absolutely involve things like CCTV and additional work with Victoria Police to ensure safe streets”, he said.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece has said he will install an additional 200 security cameras across Melbourne if he wins the mayoral election.

Voters will begin receiving voting packs, which include ballot papers and candidate statements, in the mail from next week. The votes must be posted by Friday, October 25, to be counted.

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