Council’s plan missing one key component: convenient car parking

Artist’s impression – Mill Street intersection with Currie Street.

Editor’s view by Cameron Outridge

It is impressive. It is appreciated. But there is one key ingredient missing from Sunshine Coast Council’s Nambour Place Plan for the CBD: convenient street parking.

In fact, the plan seems to indicate a reduction in parking spaces. This despite a petition raised last year and signed by a thousand people, calling for more parking in town. A petition which was all but ignored by Council.

Convenient parking is the lifeblood of any main street. You just have to ask shop owners. Indeed, you just have to ask Coles and Woolworths who rely on an abundance of covered spaces to attract shoppers in Nambour and across Australia.

Ignoring convenient street parking options is a disastrous planning oversight that threatens to choke the life out of Nambour’s CBD potential.

This is particularly so in Currie Street – already obviously suffering under the weight of years of neglect.

By placing aesthetics above practicality Council’s draft plan (let’s hope it is just a “draft”) puts Nambour’s dwindling main-street independent businesses under further pressure.

There is obviously merit in making our streets more attractive, and kudos to Council for attempting to entice shoppers from the two big shopping centres and into town by beautifying linking streets. But the best way to make the streets more attractive is to line them with vibrant shops.

To encourage character-filled, independent small businesses that make traditional towns like Nambour inviting and charming, Council must make parking a priority.

And they should more actively seek the opinions of the mum and dad businesspeople and shopkeepers who are the CBD’s key stakeholders.

These customer-facing shopkeepers should have a huge say on what their street looks like and how it could be improved. They are the experts. They are the ones whose livelihoods depend on a functioning CBD. They are the ones who have invested tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in the CBD. They create the charm and character of the town. They make our streets vibrant and welcoming, serve customers and attract visitors. They are the faces of our main street. And they are the ones we should be listening to first, foremost and overwhelmingly in any discussion about the CBD.

This newspaper urges Council to reconsider its plan and make parking a priority.

We urge business owners and residents to have their say on Council’s plan for Nambour before September 22. It’s a Central Business District. Not a botanic garden. Trees are nice, but convenient carparking is essential.

• For more information and to have your say on the Nambour Centre Activation Project visit council’s website.