2019-08-06 Planning & Environment Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  6 AUGUST 2019


Based on Council’s traffic consultant’s advice the applicant agreed to revise the proposed access
arrangements. The revised proposal includes deleting the existing vehicle crossover on Eumundi
Noosa Road and constructing a single connecting access and egress point for the development
via the existing school access off Walter Hay Drive.
Council’s external traffic consultant also advises as follows:
The campus has very good direct access to the Goodchap Street roundabout and to Walter Hay
Drive via the left in / left out bus set-down and parking area.
The Walter Hay Drive access requires all departing traffic to travel along Walter Hay Drive to the
Eenie Creek Road roundabout, and to distribute from there.
Observation indicates that in the afternoon school peak, there was a peak in surrounding road
traffic at about 3.15pm, which corresponded with queuing in Walter Hay Drive extending back all
the way from the Eenie Creek Road roundabout, to the campus for a short period of time. This
made it slow for traffic departing from the campus.
The best and most appropriate access from a traffic impact perspective is access to Goodchap
Street, as it enables traffic using that access to travel to/from the campus in any direction
relatively easily, without requiring circulation through the busy Eenie Creek Road / Walter Hay
Drive roundabout.
If the new carpark is used for staff parking only, it would be acceptable to rely on access via the
existing Walter Hay Drive access arrangements. The benefit of such an outcome from a traffic
perspective is that it would free up existing parking on the campus, accessed via the Goodchap
Street roundabout, for use by parent set-down and drop-off via the Goodchap Street roundabout
(provided the new carpark is allocated for and used only by staff parking, and with the existing
Goodchap Street parking area then being all allocated for visitor parking). Considering that staff
in the PM peak will typically depart the campus after the school traffic peak has concluded, such
an arrangement could have an overall benefit.
It would not be satisfactory to facilitate and encourage any visitor and set-down use of the new
parking area until there is a link from that parking area to the Goodchap Street roundabout
access.
The potential issue arises in the future when campus parking that is currently accessed via the
Goodchap St roundabout is replaced with new buildings as envisaged in the master plan. If
those future developments occur in a piecemeal manner as I understand has been the process to
date, then the college would potentially gradually reduce the college parking areas accessed via
Goodchap Street, and each time say that it’s only a small amount, and at the same time attempt
to have parent parking and set-down permitted in the new parking area. Such an outcome would
be highly undesirable from a traffic impact perspective. Provision of a master plan that
demonstrates an intent to link the new parking area with the Goodchap Street access in the
future is thus an essential element from a traffic and transport perspective, otherwise impacts on
already congested parts of Council’s network will be worsened by the layout forcing more school
traffic to use Walter Hay Drive, rather than being able to avoid that congestion through access to
the Goodchap Street roundabout.
The applicant should be advised that any future applications to modify the existing campus
parking and set-down area accessed via the Goodchap Street roundabout would require detailed
traffic impact assessment including but not limited to identification of peak parking demands for
staff, visitors and students, where that parking occurs, how that parking would be impacted by
any changes, assessment of proposals to eliminate existing queuing that occurs in the afternoon
school peak back into the Goodchap Street roundabout as a result of overflow of the existing
pick-up queue, and minimising congestion along Walter Hay Drive in the afternoon peak.




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