Wollongong council's Stuart Park plan aims to reduce car park pressure

Wollongong City Council had previously flagged the creation of what it called a "multi-use car parking facility".

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However, any such construction does not appear in the just-released draft master plan for Stuart Park and Galvin Park (the latter is the green stretch between the road to the Lagoon and the beach).

The draft plan does not offer any huge increase in parking for an area that is regularly congested in the summer months.

There is a plan to create formal parking spaces along the western side of Squires Way and review parking along George Hanley Drive with a view to creating more spaces.

Part of council's focus would be to try and manage traffic by reducing the number of car trips in the first place.

The draft master plan aimed to "explore opportunities to reduce or manage car parking demand to encourage a modal shift to transit, pedestrian and bicycling trips and opportunities for smart parking".

The speed limit in the whole park precinct would be cut to 10km/h and an improved pedestrian crossing would be built at the George Hanley Drive-Cliff Road intersection.

Pedestrians would be the focus in other aspects of the plan as well.

"The master plan envisages a new perimeter path that responds to existing desire lines and walking tracks connecting the Blue Mile with Fairy Lagoon through to Puckeys Nature Reserve and around the western fringe of the park to the shared path," council papers stated.

A secondary path would go around the man-made lagoon and provide experiences that would be "designed to engage the different senses and to collectively immerse people in a multi-sensory journey"

A yarning circle will be included "in recognition of the significance of Stuart Park to the Aboriginal community".

"Stuart Park plays an important role in both the environmental, indigenous, historical and social history of Wollongong," the council papers stated.

"A significant opportunity exists to create a new and enhanced interpretation experience to convey the multi-layered history of Stuart Park to every visitor."

If approved by council on Monday night, the draft master plan will go on public exhibition from September 28 to November 2.

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