Car free CBD too ‘extreme’

Source: Wangaratta Chonicle 22.08.08

A CAR-free central business district has been dropped from a visionary document for Wangaratta after being rejected as "extreme" by members of the local community.

The 2030 Community Vision launched by the Rural City of Wangaratta yesterday also abandons plans for a major lake and wetland system on the banks of the city centre.

The revised document has, however, kept hopes alive for a higher education complex, ultra-fast interstate train service, tree-top walk and Ned Kelly museum.

Intended as "aspirational", the 2030 vision will guide growth and development in the rural city over the next 20 to 25 years.

The draft, placed on public exhibition in May, attracted 24 written submissions and was subject to three two-hour public workshops attended by 60 people.

Objections were made to plans to shut the CBD off to traffic and create a pedestrian mall.

Major concerns included:

• access to shops and services;

• useability of shuttle services;

• a "dead" centre; and

• the possibility of such a move leading to large ‘suburban’ shopping areas with car parking.

One submission suggested traffic calming measures and restricted vehicular access as a means of making the CBD more "pedestrian-friendly".

"These measures could give a more relaxed atmosphere and safer feel for CBD users without going to the extremes of being car-free," it reads.

The suggestion was taken on board, with the words "car-free" changed to “pedestrian-friendly”, with multi-deck car parks and shuttle services catering for the vast bulk of traffic coming into the CBD.

The revised 2030 vision has also deleted a proposed major lake and wetland system after concerns were raised about the possible impact on the Ovens River.