We walk past Penrith Plaza, the flash indoor shopping mall we walked through last time (out of shot
behind us to the right) and enter the old commercial centre of Penrith. It is a depressing looking
place. Over the past 20 years most retail business has moved away from "High Street" either into
one of the TWO close-by giant shopping malls or out along Mulgoa Road (which links the city to the
all important M4) at huge new "large item" retail complexes offering convenient parking and modern
access. The buildings pictured were once the centre of local commerce. Now, most of them are half
empty, badly in need of repair, renewal or replacement. There seems little or no incentive to
invest in this section of town.