The owners of a lower Crown Street cafe fear they will be forced out of business if their customers choose to go elsewhere due to recent parking changes on the popular dining strip.
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Teesh Krishnayya, who owns Lower East Cafe, is pleading with Wollongong council to replace parking spaces outside his eatery, which were removed to make way for a lengthy new No Stopping zone at the eastern end of the road between Kembla and Corrimal streets.
This change made in late December came after a horror year, Mr Krishnayya said, when the cafe had to contend with multiple road closures, traffic changes and prolonged footpath works which started in May.
"Initially there was the repaving of Crown Street, which was supposed to go for 14 weeks, but that went nearly three months over," he said.
"There were traffic controllers at either end of the street, stopping people driving through, and there was often no one working on the street but these controls were still in place.
"We got through that, we got through the cycle event and then we received a letter about the new outdoor dining trial that would take place."
"We were supportive, but we were given assurances that there was going to be no change to the parks on the street."
The trial was funded by a $250,000 NSW Government grant to "relocate road space" for outdoor dining.
In September, the speed limit of the popular dining precinct changed to 30km/h, with cars only able to travel east from Kembla to Corrimal Street until May 2023.
Mr Krishnayya said the initial roll-out caused problems with Moore Lane, next to Lower East, with rubbish and delivery unable to use the laneway.
"Council eventually added a clearway - so that there was a turning circle so trucks could get down and get back out," he said.
"But then the council deemed that wasn't big enough - and now there's only two general car spots at our end of the street."
Late last month, as the cafe prepared for its busiest season, the owners took to social media to call for the lengthy new No Stopping zone to be changed.
Mr Krishnayya said his cafe's neighbours - the newsagent, chemist and burger shop - all needed customers to be able to briefly park and pop in, and were suffering a loss of business due to the latest changes.
"I think the project needs to be revisited so that any outdoor dining space doesn't come at the cost of parking," he said.
"Right now, the balance is completely out of whack."
"It's been eight months of disruptions for us now, and we worry that people will stop coming - even our long term customers say sadly if they can't find a park in the area they will have to consider their options about where they go."
He said council staff told him that nothing could be done until the New Year.
"So here we are in our busiest period of the year with the same frustrating situation," he said.
"Taking into consideration about the loss of business we've had over many months, most of us are a little bit fed up about this inaction.
A Wollongong council spokesperson the new No Stopping zone had been added due to people breaking parking rules.
"Unfortunately, [the] solution to offer timed parking and No Stopping zones was not as successful as anticipated due to community members disregarding the signs and parking their cars overnight in these zones," the spokesperson said.
"This prevented service and delivery vehicles from manoeuvring into Moore Lane to deliver essential goods to businesses and remove commercial waste.
"In the interest of safety, and to support businesses in this precinct to receive essential goods and have their waste removed via Moore Lane, we updated the signs to "No Stopping".
"We're disappointed we needed to take this step."
They said the 'No Stopping' arrangement had resulted in an overall loss of one parking space on Lower Crown Street.
The spokesperson also said the council was committed to supporting local businesses was seeking feedback on the effects of the outdoor dining trial.
Feedback can be submitted until Tuesday 28 February 2023 by:
- Completing the online user survey by Tuesday 28 February, 2023.
- Writing to: The General Manager, Wollongong City Council, Locked Bag 8821 WOLLONGONG DC NSW 2500
- Emailing: engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au
- Phoning: (02) 4227 7111
- Visiting: Council's Customer Service Centre, 41 Burelli St, Wollongong.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
