Road squeeze fear

Residents cite traffic congestion in tower project battle

TRAFFIC congestion at Main Beach will be in the spotlight as councillors vote to approve a new apartment tower at the beachfront tourism hot spot.

Residents opposed to the proposed 26-level Monaco building in Macarthur Parade, opposite the Southport Surf Lifesaving Club, have sent photographs to the Bulletin showing traffic at a standstill in surrounding suburban streets.

Councillors at a planning committee meeting on Thursday are expected to accept recommendations for approval on the codeassessable project, but not before opponents vent about traffic safety concerns.

Main Beach Association leader Sue Donovan said unit owners in neighbouring towers at the weekend would use a drone to show gridlock around the suburb on roads leading to The Spit.

“When the Nippers arrive, the place is just packed from 6am. There is nowhere to park. There’s no room in the street when the buses pass through,” she said.

In their report to council, planning consultants for the developers talked up the “low traffic generation of the proposed development”.

Ignite Projects managing director Josh Foote has strongly rejected the claims, noting the planned luxury tower will contain only 25 units.

IGNITE PROJECTS MANAGING DIRECTOR JOSH FOOTE

“We will add value to Main Beach more than take it away with traffic impact,” he said.

“There will be a lot of wealth and money brought into the community. We’ve put a lot of effort into designing this building. It’s only 25 apartments; it’s not a significant amount of traffic going in there.”

But residents, in a document prepared by their planning and development consultants, wrote: “The proposal has the potential to add 50-plus vehicles to the already steady flow of traffic to Stafford Avenue. A Surfside bus also travels along Stafford Avenue every 25 minutes.”

Residents admit the development application complies with carparking with 33 spaces provided across two basement levels accessed by a single car lift, another 18 within the tower and three visitor spaces on ground level.

But the MBA maintains the system is “poorly arranged and unreliable”.

“These arrangements are likely to compromise the immediate road network, cause on-street parking congestion and constrain the likely use of on-site parking particularly for short durations,” the residents’ report said.

“Due to the difficulty of access, it would be expected that many residents would not bother to park in the basement, and even a lesser extent in the tower, when attending the site for short durations.”

IT’S ONLY 25 APARTMENTS; IT’S NOT A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TRAFFIC GOING IN THERE.