Beauchamps Shoe Store owner John Beauchamp said the area in front of his store did not leave a good impression on people visiting Murray Bridge for the first time but it would not be hard to fix.

“The median strip out the front of our shop, I’m absolutely disgusted with that,” he said.

“There used to be roses there but now it’s just dusty.

“The image it portrays to people coming into the town is that this isn’t a town that takes pride in itself in its trading district.”

He said even some minor work such as the installation of more garden beds or artificial grass would improve the area.

Mr Beauchamp’s comments came after Murray Bridge councillor Phil Nutt raised the issue at last week’s council meeting.

Cr Nutt said he had spoken to several business owners in Bridge Street and they all wanted to see beautification work undertaken.

But plans to improve the look of several areas of the city are already being undertaken.

Murray Bridge council infrastructure and technical services manager Martin Waddington said, although plans were in an embryonic phase, the council was looking at improvements in Bridge Street, Sixth Street and South Terrace, as well as at the entrances to the city.

However, concrete plans were yet to be drawn up and the council had not made any formal decisions or allocated funds to such projects as yet.