Angry Anna Bay residents say their street is being hijacked by tourists, Port Stephens Council says it is trying to manage a difficult situation to appease both locals and visitors.
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The stark reality is that James Paterson Street will in all likelihood become a traffic bottleneck during these school holidays, particularly over the Labour Day long weekend.
There are reports the number of vehicles to access the roadway is between 5,000 and 10,000 a day.
Six months after the mayhem of the Easter school holidays, the expectations for the next fortnight include traffic congestion, long queues, overflowing carparks and frustrated residents, some of whom have labelled council's traffic management strategy as a "band-aid fix".
The council's solution is to extend 'No Parking' restrictions on the eastern side of James Paterson Street from the current 9am-3pm to 6am-6pm.
Also read: Illegal parking cause of Anna Bay mayhem
While admitting the issue of traffic accessibility due to Anna Bay's new found tourism appeal to be "a tough challenge", communications manager Steve Bernasconi insists that council staff would be better prepared this time round.
"The council has engaged a contractor to provide parking marshals and traffic controllers from October 4-7 (the long weekend), and extended No Parking signs will be erected on September 27," he said.
"In addition, there will be No Parking signs on the outer curve of Fitzroy Street/Robinson Street and council rangers will monitor and act on illegal parking during the holidays."
Longtime resident Deb Bacon fears she and her neighbours on the eastern side will be locked in their homes. "When do we get to enjoy a long weekend?"
"How many other residential streets in Port Stephens have permanent 'No Parking' signs? Council had adequate time since the last holidays to consult with residents, but instead their proposed solution is to thrust upon residents these restrictions via a flyer with four days' notice," she said.
"To amend the no parking time still fails to acknowledge the major issue being restrictive access to the headland via a residential street. And where does council expect our visitors to park their cars?'
Ms Bacon said the solution was to construct a temporary road leading from the existing 4wd track to the bottom carpark. She said additional car parking would also need to be considered.
"The gateway to the sand dunes are such an important and valuable resource to this area for both the Worimi people and for the Anna Bay economy (shops and tourist operators alike), it's a shame that council has failed to provide the infrastructure it deserves," she said.
Mr Beransconi said that consultation had taken place with Anna Bay residents, sand dune operators, surf club and the cafe to better prepare Birubi Point headland and Robinson Reserve for the wave of holiday visitors. He also acknowledged the challenges.
"Due to the high demand we have had to treat these holiday periods as a community event, similar to a rock concert, and look at a whole-of-place management strategy," he said. "This includes not only traffic and carparking management, but also services such as toilets, accessibility and garbage."
He said that the bottom carparking section of Birubi Beach would be cleared of windblown sand in order to open up spaces, while a special parking bay for buses will be in place.
"A full review of the new council approach will be undertaken at the end of October with the stakeholders to determine what improvements can be made for the summer holiday period."
Cr Sarah Smith said that the council traffic plan had recognised the problems of the past and that she was open to new suggestions.
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