A draft traffic plan for Leura risks being "profoundly inadequate" in another 10 years and council should start a more robust process to address future problems, according to the Leura Community Alliance.
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In its submission on the traffic plan's options report, the alliance said paid parking should be introduced in the short term but ultimately Leura is likely to need an off-site parking station.
"A dedicated parking space may be the only solution over the medium- to longer-term. If, after a thorough exploration of the alternatives, this turns out to be the case, then planning should begin now."
The alliance, made up of 12 community organisations, said it supported a paid parking scheme in the Mall and the Woolworths car park, with timed exemptions for local residents.
But it was concerned that the traffic plan, which has been underway in one form or another since 2016, was flawed because it had not been done in conjunction with a separate parking plan.
"There was disappointment that work on the parking strategy was not undertaken in conjunction with the traffic management plan - the two are intimately interconnected, evident from those aspects of the options report which deal with parking for tourist coaches, which will have a direct impact on the number of parking spaces available for cars."
While the traffic plan could "buy some additional time", the alliance said, it did not address the underlying traffic and parking issues for Leura.
Tourists coaches have begun to return post-COVID and visitor numbers will continue to grow.
"We can be sure that, by the time another decade has passed, the interim measures proposed in the options report will be profoundly inadequate."
The alliance added: "Members appreciate the financing challenges for council but they felt that a longer-term traffic and parking management plan must give serious consideration to an off-site parking station of some kind."
The alliance expressed concerns over several aspects of the report, including the potential loss of car parking spaces on Grose St, where there are numerous professional services (medical, legal), and any suggestion of using Wascoe Street for coaches travelling to and from drop-off/pick-up locations.
The constraints of Leura's narrow streets and limited parking spaces within the village will not disappear, the alliance wrote.
"Given how long it has taken for the current planning process to proceed, we recommend that council immediately commence another more robust process which will address the pressures and the problems that will inevitably come.
"This will allow time to explore the kind of innovative solutions that will be necessary to deal with the problems that will inevitably flow from increased visitor numbers."
Public exhibition of the plan has now closed and a report on the submissions will be prepared. Council declined to make any comment at this time.
