The CEO of a large business in Merimbula said Bega Valley Shire Council has ignored his pleas to put the safety of local school children first in the town’s CBD Upgrade Project.
A decision on Monday afternoon will see the council trial turning Beach Street, from Market and Main Streets from two lanes of traffic to one way only.
Scott McLean from Merimbula RSL told councillors at the meeting he was speaking against the recommendation to make Beach Street one-way. I support retaining two-way traffic.
“I understand other speakers will be addressing various points of the recommendations and an amendment. I would like to reiterate that Beach street must be activated as a family friendly public space and safety along the foreshore is paramount, not only for the likely increase of families in the area but for the existing school children and parents who need safe access along Beach street for school pick up and drop offs,” Mr McLean said.
“Alice Street carries a high volume of deliveries , to the RSL and other businesses , and many of those are heavy vehicles doing daily drop-offs. As CEO of the RSL, I can tell you we see somewhere between five and ten heavy vehicle deliveries to our venue alone, every single day. Right now, most of those trucks exit via Beach Street out of the area. They do that because the Alice Street and Main Street intersection is blind and uphill , genuinely unsafe for a heavy vehicle to pull out of,” he said.
“If Beach Street goes one-way, that right-turn exit disappears. Every one of those trucks will be forced to turn left instead, straight toward the primary school intersection. At drop-off and pick-up times, that’s heavy vehicles being funnelled into the same street that is full of parents, prams and small children on foot.
“Parents also all know the wide berth the school buses must make on turns back on to Main Street , heavy vehicles will be the same, taking up two lanes to enter Main Street from Beach Street. And this isn’t a one-off , at five to ten heavy vehicle movements a day from our venue alone, plus deliveries to other Alice Street businesses, residents will be living with this every single day, with all the associated noise and disturbance that comes with it.
“I’ve checked Council’s own 2023 Transport Study: the Alice Street and Main Street intersection was never modelled or assessed in that study, and neither was Main Street and Randolph Street, right where children cross.
“This sits alongside what the community already told you. Of the 199 survey responses, on Beach Street specifically, 66% of respondents, opposed making it one-way, with only 21% in support. Continued opposition to one-way changes was one of the clearest themes in the entire engagement report.
“There isn’t just survey data, either. A petition of Merimbula CBD businesses was put to Council and reported at the 10 June meeting , and all but one of those businesses opposed Beach Street becoming one-way. The Chamber of Commerce also held a public meeting on this issue with over 90 attendees, and the opposition in that room to Beach Street one-way was virtually unanimous. When residents, survey respondents, and the businesses who actually trade in the CBD are all telling you the same thing, that’s not a fringe objection.”
