HORSHAM business owners have expressed their opposition to proposed parking changes in the Horsham CBD outlined in the council's draft City to River masterplan.
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The draft masterplan includes the proposed removal of angle parking along Horsham's Firebrace Street and the creation of parallel carparks instead.
The draft masterplan also suggests the inclusion of pedestrian crossings at roundabouts along Firebrace Street and bike lanes.
In Horsham council's draft Horsham Urban Transport Plan, there is a suggestion to "consider converting angle parking to parallel parking to prevent conflicts between reversing vehicle manoeuvres and other vehicles and pedestrians in select streets".
There are also suggestions to "modify the existing roundabouts to slow vehicle speeds"; and "install set back pedestrian crossings on each arm of the roundabouts located in the CAD to prioritise pedestrians over vehicles".
Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents hosted a community meeting on Tuesday with business owners to discuss their concerns about the proposed changes.
Representatives from Horsham Family Footwear, Amcal Pharmacy, Horsham Disposals, Cook's Manchester and Lingerie, Cafe Red Cherry, Jacob's Well, Beyond Community Inclusion, Earles, Hermans Interiors, Wards Jewellers and Christian Emergency Food Centre were in attendance.
Christian Emergency Food Centre's Jill Cramer said the proposed changes would affect the centre's clients.
"We have 65 volunteers and four carparks allocated for our use. We also have multiple clients coming in so we're struggling in the top end of Firebrace Street with getting fines and finding parks," she said
The centre's client assessor Bev Miatke said the centre didn't have enough access to parking already.
Hermans Interiors' Ray Hermans said he was concerned with the suggested bike lanes along Firebrace Street.
"If they did slow the traffic down to what it already is, more people would ride their bikes anyway down the main street. The biggest issue is cars pulling in and out. If it was parallel parking, cars would be opening their doors onto bikes," he said.
"The parallel parking and those crossings were part of the plans that we fought against last time. As a CBD group there were enough of us to complain to get that changed from the previous upgrade of the main street."
Horsham Family Footwear's Caroline Curran said there were 34 carparks in her block between Pynsent and Wilson streets.
"When we had the last revamp of Firebrace Street it was disastrous. I would leave tomorrow if it was going to happen again. The last time the disruption to the businesses was huge," she said.
"We need to say no to this; it will be a waste of money because it's not necessary.
"Just today we had people come from Naracoorte, Donald and Kaniva, so it's not just Horsham poeple who use it.
"We work really hard to get people in our doors. People complain about how many empty shops there are now and we will leave if these changes are made."
Horsham Amcal's Bianca Inkster said a similar plan had been implemented in Mildura.
"They have pedestrian crossings at every roundabout and the mall there is a ghost town The council there wanted people to bypass the main street," she said.
"Can our councillors willing to come down the street and parallel park themselves. Can they expect their parents, grandparents or children to do it?"
Cafe Red Cherry's Lyn Rogers said she was concerned parallel parking would make it more difficult for some drivers to park on the street.
"We have elderly people who come in and they will not be able to parallel park at all," she said.
Horsham Rural Ratepayers and Residents president Di Bell said she was chair of the parking committee in 2017 when the council adopted the Horsham Municipal Parking Strategy.
"One of the recommendations the consultants made in the strategy was that the parking advisory committee was kept going. The council adopted that and it should happen, but there has been no meeting since September 2017," she said.
"I would hope that by forming this group we can actually make it into a community working group for CBD businesses, and then build that to workshop what changes we would like to see - if any - and make recommendations. Ultimately it needs to come from the community and the businesses."
The group started a petition this week calling for the halt of all Horsham council Transforming Horsham plans, including the City to River masterplan.
One of the main concerns outlined in the petition was the proposed introduction of parallel parking in the CBD, and reducing parking in the CBD and river precinct.
See the draft City to River masterplan below
The Mail-Times contacted Horsham Rural City Council for comment, asking the following questions:
- What are the proposed parking changes in the Horsham CBD outlined in the City to River draft masterplan?
- How many car parks will be lost if these proposed changes go ahead?
- Will there be a chance for CBD business owners to meet with the council regarding their concerns?
- Was the council aware of these concerns prior to the release of the draft masterplan?
Council's chief executive officer Sunil Bhalla said the council had received a "considerable amount of feedback" from the community on design detail, including car parking considerations.
"As stated throughout the process, the design detail (including any changes to car parking) will be determined when detailed plans are prepared for individual projects. Council must firstly decide on a final masterplan vision which shows the overarching ideas for the precincts," he said.
"Any proposed changes to car parking in the CBD would be considered in the detailed design phase for the CBD precinct, following further engagement with key stakeholders including CBD business owners."
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