Radical plans by Sutherland Council to overhaul parking in Bundeena’s town centre are at odds with local resident representatives.
Council engineers met with representatives of the Bundeena Progress Association to discuss major parking changes which are proposed as a result of the planned upgrade of the town centre. The discussions were held at the 11th hour with Council eager to commence construction within the next two months. The proposed parking changes would involve:
Converting the existing shop side parking spaces from parallel parking to 90 degree angle parking.
Converting the existing park side parking from 60 degree angle parking to parallel parking.
The introduction of 3 new pedestrian crosswalks and the removal of the shared zone crossing along Brighton St. betweeen vehicles & pedestrians.
The introduction of timed parking limits ranging from 15 minutes to 2 hours.
Overall reduction of parking by 5 spaces.
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Residents raised a number of concerns including:
Parking plans had been tried before twenty years ago and was unsuccessful leading to the current parking configuration.
Bundeena's remoteness and lack of parking officers would make enforcement of timed parking problematic.
Town cannot deal with reduction of parking spaces given shortage of parking for locals and visitors on busy weekends.
Locals would lose convenience of stop and shop parking that the current shop side parallel parking provides.
The 90 degree angle parking would be more difficult and dangerous for drivers than the current 60 degree angle parking.
Proposed shop side angle parking would cause more exposure to vehicle fumes to pedestrians.
Council engineers argued in favour of the plans based on:
The swapping of angled and parallel parking sides will accommodate for a new sidewalk to be constructed alongside Roger Summers Reserve.
The increased number of shop side parking spaces would be safer for shoppers as they would not have to unnecessarily cross the road to get to shops.
The proposed pedestrian crosswalks would make it safer to cross the road and act as a traffic calming device.
A decision by Council will be made in the coming month and if the design is rejected it will further delay the start of the town centre redevelopment.
