IN NOTA’s 20/1/23 Edition Wilson McOrist asks who would you trust in relation to their stance on the development of the Jetty Foreshores?

Myself, Gurmesh Singh or Cath Fowler?

People can trust me or not as they see fit.

I am not trying to sell you something.

I am merely pointing out that in years to come we are going to need all the recreational space we can possibly get, and the best and most attractive place for that recreational space to be is in the harbour precinct.

If we adopt the government’s plan, a huge parcel of land is lost to the community forever.

There is no going back.

I simply cannot trust proponents of the government’s plans because of the deceptive and misleading way in which they have undertaken the community consultation to date.

Amongst so many other travesties, think about the question in the survey – do you want up to six storey buildings or leave the fence there and do nothing?

I am yet to meet anyone who wants to leave the fence in its current position and do nothing.

This deception continues.

Traffic flow and car parking are make or break issues for anything that occurs in the precinct.

Our ability to enjoy the area is hugely dependent on being able to get into and out of the Foreshores area easily and find a convenient car park while there.

Little in the plan appears to have been done to facilitate easier traffic movement.

In the refined masterplan it is noted that there will be 70 percent formal car parking as opposed to the current situation whereby formal car parking accounts for only 36 percent of the total.

It is also stated that there will be fifteen percent total additional car parking spaces provided.

Anyone who can nominate formal car parking as 36 percent of the existing number of car parking spaces has never been to the site on a busy day.

I would have no idea what percentage it is because the informal parking is so ad hoc and involves parking anywhere a driver can fit a vehicle.

How do you quantify that, and then nominate how much of an increase there will be?

In the 2021 consultation the eastern boundary of the project was shown as the railway line.

The location of this boundary now appears to be quite arbitrary as the plan refers to parking at the whale tail site and the railway station.

I challenge Gurmesh to provide two plans – one showing the number and location of current car parking spaces (both formal and informal) and the second showing the proposed car parks (both formal and informal).

Coffs Harbour, the devil will be in the detail, so trust the politician at your peril.

Regards,
Bruce WEIR,
Coffs Harbour.