Woolworths Double Bay Parking; Double Bay Village; Double Bay Residents
 HELP KEEP OUR STREETS SAFE 
 as DOUBLE BAY 
  GROWS 

Make the Woolworths Double Bay car park fully operational; open the closed Court Road (Anderson Street) entrance gate; and, stop putting people's safety at unnecessary risk.

 

You can act now by writing to:

Planning Panels Secretariat
Sydney Planning Panels
By email to: enquiry@planningpanels.nsw.gov.au

​

Please consider the following content for your correspondence:
 

1. Tell them where you live and how you are affected by the traffic flows from the Woolworths Double Bay car park. Give them specific examples if you can.
    

2. Ask them to please reopen and review the decision by the Sydney East, Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP), on 27 June 2012 and make the Woolworths Double Bay car park fully operational by opening the closed Court Road (Anderson Street) entrance gate.
    

3. Consider using of the following paragraphs in your letter (you will need to print and attach the LINKED files to your letter):
    

• At the JRPP meeting on 27 June 2012 a decision was made to restrict access to the Kiaora Lands redevelopment (DA531/2011/1). This restriction affects the operation of the Court Road (Anderson Street) access (Condition I 32).
   

• The Kiaora Lands redeveloped car park has grown from 145 spaces to 459 spaces and at the same time the Court Road (Anderson Street) utilisation has fallen from 39% to 3% of car park traffic flow. In contrast, the Patterson Street utilisation has increased from 27% to 47% of car park traffic flow. The average peak congestion in Patterson Street since 2015 is up by 530% and is 114 vehicles per hour over the Woollahra Council control, and 97 vehicles per hour over the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) limit for local roads.
   

• Both Court Road and Patterson Street are local roads and are accessed via Manning Road. A history of the redevelopment and the impact on the community is available at www.woolworthsdoublebayparking.com.au. As the videos on this website show, the changes in car park access and utilisation have also led to increasing hazards for shoppers, residents and visitors from vehicles not keeping left of the dividing line along Manning Road. Car park users appear to be frustrated by the restricted access to the Woolworths Double Bay car park. The closure of the Court Road (Anderson Street) access aggravates the situation as traffic is diverted towards Patterson Street which also means longer queues along Manning Road.
   

• The Court Road (Anderson Street) entrance door was built but is kept shut at the request of the Double Bay Residents Association (DBRA) headquartered in Court Road. The President, Vice-President and Secretary of the Association at the time lived in Court Road. The DBRA is an incorporated association governed by the Associations Incorporation Act 2009. The President’s email on 1 March 2015 confirmed the DBRA’s preference for traffic to be diverted into Patterson Street.
   

• At the JRPP meeting on 27 June 2012 the DBRA was represented by town planner Tony Moody of Moody & Doyle. Community funds were used to pay for this advisory and lobby service but from the records it is not clear how the DBRA Committee managed any potential conflicts of interest. Regardless, the outcome no longer appears to be in the best interest of the broader community beyond Court Road.