By Jolene Ogle
After more than 1000 submissions, extensive consultation with the community and pop-up stalls, Noosa Council has released its draft transport strategy with six proposed solutions to Noosa’s traffic woes.
In his introduction to the report that was presented to the General Committee on Monday 13 March, Mayor Tony Wellington said there is no silver bullet when it comes to solving Noosa’s traffic congestion issues and the solution needs to be a multi-faceted approach.
“This is a highly complex issue that can only be resolved with significant foresight, a dash of courage, grasp of the complexities of behaviour change, all tempered with realistic pragmatism and financial sense,” he said.
The draft strategy outlines six proposed solutions to Noosa’s traffic woes that could be rolled out over the next one to two years.
The strategies include introducing an Active Travel to School program for school kids, trialling a temporary park-and-ride service during peak holiday periods and trialling a shuttle bus that would form a loop and service key destinations such as the marina and Hastings Street.
The draft plan also suggested investigating the introduction of a congestion fee for the Hastings Street precinct and investigating a priority lane on Noosa Parade for sustainable transport modes.
The most controversial proposed strategy is the introduction of paid parking in congested areas such as Hastings Street.
Councillors discussed the proposed draft transport strategy at Monday’s general committee meeting where councillor Ingrid Jackson raised concerns over the second principle that states the policy will prioritise the transport needs of residents and overnight visitors over the needs of day visitors.
Cr Jackson said she was not comfortable with the approach because she believed it was Tourism Noosa’s job to monitor the dollar spend of visitors and the council’s responsibility to manage traffic issues.
“The objection I have is that day trippers have been singled out like they’re the only one with a car causing congestion,” she said.
The draft transport strategy report is now available on the council’s website and residents are urged to have their say on the proposed traffic management tools from 20 March to 13 April.
Residents can share their thoughts on the proposed strategy online through the council’s Your Say portal at www.yoursay.noosa.gov.au, through email mail@noosa.qld.gov.au, phone 5329 6501 or mail submissions to PO Box 141, Tewantin, 4565.
