Cromer residents are furious over the construction of a ‘rogue’ sidewalk, undertaken by Council, at the head of their busy street.
A large group gathered at St Matthews Farm in Cromer for a meeting with Northern Beaches Council last week to discuss how the project they were consulted had deviated so far from the works being undertaken by contractors. Plans to construct two roundabouts and a pedestrian crossing had progressed to permanently partially obstructing their street, without consultation.
“This is a deviation from the plan that we were consulted on… the residents in the area would tell you that, from their experience of living here, this will not be safer,” Gavin, a resident, told Manly Observer in front of the construction last week.
“On Saturdays, you can’t get a park in these four or five streets that surround us… we’ve lost, at a minimum, two parking spots just in this entrance of the road.”
“No one’s really happy. I think the issue is we weren’t consulted,” another resident Nikki added, whose house is adjacent to the works.
“We really feel that community consultation is not just a courtesy, it’s really part of responsible governance.”
Original plans by Council’s Transport Network Team (TNT) were shared with the community late last year, with 208 people allegedly responding with “strong support” for the proposed changes.
However, these plans were altered after the consultation stage, without the community’s knowledge.
The original plan conveyed one roundabout to be added on the intersection of South Creek Road and Middleton Road, another on the intersection of Fisher Road North and South Creek Road and a pedestrian crossing was to be relocated to the corner of Fisher Rd North and Grover Avenue.
The amended plan that surprised locals saw a similar design to what was originally proposed with the addition of sacrificing half of the Grover Avenue’s entrance with a sidewalk and nature strip, as well as implementing a no-right turn into Fisher Rd North.
The change was not a pleasant surprise.
“Cars coming out of Fisher Road don’t have to stop anymore. They’re on a giveway on the roundabout, so they’re actually coming through that intersection a little bit faster, and maybe don’t have time to see what’s actually happening on the crossing. So, we’ve had a number of vehicle near misses, and we’ve had a couple of pedestrian near misses already,” Gavin shared.
“Not only that, we’ve lost the ability to turn right,” Nikki said.
St Matthews Farm is the home to numerous sports teams including the Rugby League Cromer Kingfishers, CC Strikers Football Club in the winter and the Cromer Cricket Club in the summer. It’s not unusual for sport injuries to occur during this time, and the congestion of the cul-de-sac street – and the only entrance to the south side of the oval – could be problematic for emergency services and their vehicles.
It wasn’t just residents who were peeved about the pavement. The CC Strikers Football Club took to their Facebook group urging local members to come along to the meeting addressing the works last Tuesday.
“This is a very busy juncture, we’ve got St Matthews Farm just behind us. So we’ve got lots of sporting teams happening here, both in the evenings and on weekends, and to have a one way to turn is just not going to cut it when it comes to the traffic on a weekend,” Nikki said.
“We do see a very big need for safety. Need to open the road back up, from a perspective of how many people use this oval, and how many people live in the Enclave, and any sort of emergency services that might be needed in the future,” Gavin included.
There was also further concern for the many elderly residents who live in the street, as they would now need to navigate through the increasingly busy and narrowed streets and altered road rules.
Council has, from last Tuesday, put a stop work order on the street and pedestrian crossing until they undertake a work safety assessment and further consult with the community.
After resident complaints blew up, Council’s transport team has since stated the rationale behind the unconsulted designs was to make them “safer and smoother” for everyone using the roads.
“St Matthews Farm Reserve is very popular and sees a high level of pedestrian activity from the community, including school-aged children who use the playing fields for weekend sport and training,” a statement from Council to Manly Observer read.
“Following a number of injuries and crashes in the area, Northern Beaches Council consulted with the community on a pedestrian and road safety upgrade that would reduce the risk of further incidents.”
Council have since apologised for not notifying the public about the changes and have provided three alternative options for comment on the Your Say page.
All the options depict a compromise between the wants of the community and the works already completed by Council. But, it seems the community just wants the outcome they were originally consulted on last year.
“We want it rectified, back to the original concept plan, absolute minimum. That’s what we were consulted on,” Gavin stated.
“That’s what we believe was safe enough as a consultation plan, and given the history of the area, with no accidents in this intersection prior to these works, we don’t see a need for the works to actually have been carried out at all.”
