Throughout our long history covering local affairs we’ve seen some pretty ludicrous ideas floated. While we totally support the notion of thinking outside the square we draw the line when important public assets find themselves in the firing line.
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So we totally understand the objection mounted by Cr Greg Watson and Kiama MP Gareth Ward to a foreshadowed council report suggesting part of Marriott Park be given over as an all day car park. Like everyone else, we keenly await the detail in this staff report. If it does, as Cr Watson suggests, propose a significant portion of one of Nowra’s few public green spaces be set aside for parking, we stand with him in opposing such a move.
We know there is a problem with parking in and around the Nowra CBD. But we do not believe it serious enough to warrant the destruction of an important community asset and certainly think there are alternatives that would address the parking problem much more effectively.
Parking has dogged council and councillors for decades. Proposals for multistorey car parks have come and gone with the seasons and nothing much appears to have been resolved. The unlovely Stewart Place seems the obvious choice for such facility. It is central, it is already a car park, and a multistorey structure is unlikely to destroy the amenity of its neighbours. Likewise Egans Lane, which appears to have attracted little feasible interest from developers when the call for expressions of interest went out.
Whichever site is chosen, it will cause significant disruption and add further strain on existing car parks during the construction phase. All the cars that park there now would have to find an alternative while the new car park is constructed.
The need for a multistorey car park in Nowra was flagged almost 50 years ago. It beggars belief that successive council administrations have failed to resolve the issue. Yes, it is important to explore a range of options but, really, to even consider cutting into Marriott Park is bizarre.
The Princes Highway, as it cuts through Nowra, is unattractive enough. So to suggest making it even more of an eyesore by replacing green space with car spaces seems off the wall.
If there’s one good thing the outcry the suggestion has prompted, it’s the reopening of the discussion about Nowra’s parking problems. The community hopes the new council gets on with sorting them out.
