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A MITCHELL Street business owner says he has provided seating to pregnant women and the elderly because of a lack of seating and shelter at bus stops outside his shop.
Chris Varvakis, owner of Bendigo's Sigma Numismatics, said he had noticed a large number of bus users being forced to take shelter close to his shop front in recent times.
"In the summer months, it was not uncommon to see two people having a seat and an elderly person leaning up against the window," he said.
He said he saw pregnant women and the elderly doing this "very regularly" and often took out chairs for them to sit on.
"We had a heavily pregnant lady sitting on the bitumen recently, she was due the following week," he said.
"I couldn't let that happen as a human being."
Mr Varvakis, who moved his coin shop business up to Bendigo from Melbourne about a year ago, said he had opened about two-and-a-half months before major roadworks began as part of the first-stage redevelopment of Mitchell Street.
While he believed a lack of parking, the movement of a loading bay and decreased foot traffic since then had hurt his business, he said he was concerned the bus facilities in particular were "half done".
"If you have a bus stop, give people appropriate seating and shelter," he said.
"Today’s a very mild day, but when it reaches mid 30s, 40, it's too hot for people to stand out there."
Mr Varvakis said the footpath's existing awnings were not enough to keep people out of the elements and forced them to take shelter further back.
He said the worst time of day for it was usually between 3pm and 4pm, when sometimes there were so many people waiting that they often blocked the entrance to his and other shops along the strip.
"I'm sure plenty of other businesses would also be happy if there were more seats and awning," he said.
But he said his argument was not with bus users, rather those who had built and approved the bus stops.
"If I was a public transport user, I’d be very disappointed," he said.
"Cater to them, make it user friendly."