Orange City Council has put the next stage of its Future City upgrade of Orange’s CBD on-show for community comment, a bold plan to transform the section of Lords Place, between Summer and Kite Streets, into a place for meeting.
- The project will include:
- New plantings of advanced trees which will almost double the number of trees in the block
- New traffic arrangements designed to transform the area into a pedestrian-friendly precinct
- Outdoor-dining zones in selected areas along the block
- Improved street lighting
- Expanded gardens
- New street furniture
The Council has started visiting business operators and property owners along the block, to spell out details of the plans and seek their feed-back. Last night’s Council meeting decided to put the concept plan on exhibition for community comment for 21 days.
A community forum is also planned for Wednesday 20 September.
UP NEXT: Members of the community have their say on the future of Lords Place, between Summer and Kite streets
The draft plans can be at: https://yoursay.orange.nsw.gov.au/big-plans-for-lords-place
The project is jointly funded by Orange City Council and the NSW Government.
Earlier this year the Lords Place South project was awarded a grant of $500,000 from the NSW Government’s ‘Streets as Shared Spaces’ program that aims to ‘deliver trials that test permanent changes that strengthen the accessibility and economic vitality of a high street and surrounding area’.
Orange Mayor Cr Jason Hamling is calling on the community to learn more about the plans and have their say.
“The beauty of this government grant is that it’s intentionally designed to trial changes,” Cr Hamling said.
“The government wants communities to test the idea of creating spaces where the focus has switched from cars to people. A place where people park somewhere else and then spend time in attractive, fun spaces. If these ideas work, that will shape the design of future changes to revitalise the heart of our city.”
“There are potentially huge benefits in creating an ‘eat street’ in the heart of our city that will work all year round and boost our night-time economy. If we want to make our CBD an attractive place to meet, this is great start.”
“But there will be changes to the routines we’re used to. We want to hear from the community how they weigh up benefits of creating this new destination, alongside impacts such as the loss of some parking spaces.”
Plan to manage parking changes
Tuesday night’s (7 Sept) Council meeting considered a report from consultants GHD looking at ways to reduce the impact of the proposed loss of parking spaces..
According to the report, the impact of the loss of 23 car parks can be managed by modifying timed parking zones in Lords Place and nearby streets.
- The proposed new arrangements include would be introduced post construction and include:
- Short parking stay: introduce ¼ and ½ parking zone within Lords Place South (Summer and Kite Street).
- Medium parking stay: increase efficiencies within the 1-2 hour parking zones with line marking and upgrading pedestrian crossings increase safety. Introduce 2 hour parking in the bays within the Ophir Car Park with direct frontage to Kite Street and Lords Place (38 spaces including two spaces for the mobility impaired).
- Long parking stay: promote unlimited all-day carparking within a 10 minute walk to CBD in streets surrounding the CBD and within the report study area. Reintroduce paid all day parking to the remaining spaces in the Ophir Car Park (179 spaces). (Paid
parking was cancelled at the commencement of COVID)
- Future option centre median parking: retain 2 hour parking limit and investigate the potential of a centre median in Lords Place South (between Kite and Moulder Street) to accommodate additional parking spaces. This parking arrangement requires further survey, investigation and compliance with relevant traffic and Australian Standards.
Under the current parking arrangements there are currently 603 parking opportunities across a 9-hour day in Lords Place between Kite and Summer Street. Under the proposed changes to introduce short stay parking of half an hour for angle parking and 15 minutes for parallel parking there will be 792 parking opportunities across a 9-hour day in the Lords Place between Summer and Kite.
The Mayor said it was a challenging project to get the balance right between the city evolving and supporting existing businesses.
“We want the community to tell us what they think so we can start to explore what it would be like to enjoy outdoor dining areas in a pedestrian-friendly street,” Cr Hamling said
