peer review & summary of findings - wagga city …€¦ · peer review & summary of...

PEER REVIEW & SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Prepared for: City of Wagga Wagga

Date: 20 February 2017

Version: Final Draft

2 | Peer Review and Summary of Findings / Final Draft

Peer Review and Summary of Findings / Final Draft | 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5The interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Transport remit for Wagga Wagga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5The review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6The elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Integrating land use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16The projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Section 94 Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19The Five Pillars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

TABLE OF CONTENTS


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


ContextAs part of the GTA Background Report peer review the community has been consulted extensively. The city’s corporate strategy, community plan and relevant state government policies have all been referenced. The existing strategies outlined in the GTA Background Report will maintain the wonderful rural city lifestyle that has been enjoyed by the citizens of Wagga Wagga for many years. There are however opportunities for Wagga Wagga to be an exemplar regional city.

The InterviewsOver a two-day period, MRCagney had discussions with key stakeholders for the project including Council officers, the Council General Manager, NSW Roads & Maritime Services (RMS), Committee4Wagga, Charles Sturt University, BusAbout, bike riding advocates and the Wagga Wagga Chamber of Commerce.

As one would expect there were some alternate opinions on some details, however the team was genuinely surprised at the commonality of thought as to the future of transport for Wagga Wagga.

The general theme of the GTA Background Report of strengthening the city from the inside out, concentrating on the most vulnerable and economically important modes was supported. There was some confusion about what that meant, and there would be some benefit in message clarification, which we will try and define in this summary report.

ThemePeople gravitate to and invest in cities that are vibrant and prosperous. It is not necessarily the case that cities that are growing be regarded as successful, nor that cities with limited growth should be seen as not performing. There are specific types of growth that we know are prosperous and the transport strategy should support those development patterns, or even better encourage them.

It also follows that it is not responsible to support growth that doesn’t deliver prosperity and vibrancy. This can often occur inadvertently through poorly thought out transport strategies.

It is suggested that this strategy should at least support but preferably drive growth in Wagga Wagga, leading to prosperity and vibrancy in the city.

Transport Remit for Wagga WaggaFrom all the above we have developed a transport remit for Wagga Wagga. This is a ‘touchstone’ to help Council keep a clear pursuit of the strategy and not become distracted with the typical ‘white noise’ that inevitably comes with the day to day running of a city. The Community Strategic Plan identifies a broad vision for Wagga Wagga:

• Wagga Wagga: We are a thriving innovative and connected community on the Murrumbidgee. We are rich in opportunity, choice, learning and environment.

The transport touchstones we can gather from this are:

• Connected community – compact, walkable, people meet as humans in a human scale place

• Opportunity for choice – you don’t need a car to fully participate in the Wagga Wagga community

• Learning – we foster a healthy, active and prosperous learning generation

• Environment - we are allowing the appropriate amount of public space for environmental, social and economic sustainability

• Can we be a place where “paths cross and people meet”?


The ReviewThe GTA Background Report provides a good summary of how transport behaves and an excellent general discussion about how to move forward.

Based on this information however, some clear decisions need to be made and strategies developed to give a clear direction for the city, particularly in the short term.

There has been a request from Council to have some definite ‘projects’ come out of this process. This would be relatively unusual for a ‘strategy’ and probably doesn’t fit with the original brief. However the work done on the draft and our research and observations since, does lead to the development of some natural steps forward which will have to be articulated very firmly and clearly to all stakeholders. Some of these will be projects on the ground, some will be policy changes, and some will be changes to strategy.

There is a large wave of change throughout the western world on integrating transport with land use to bring about more economically vibrant and sustainable villages, towns and cities. This puts enormous pressure on cities like Wagga Wagga to be extremely vigilant in not falling into the ‘business as usual’ framework. Doing so will, in real terms, result in falling behind at an alarming rate.

The FindingsMRCagney have investigated the findings of the GTA Background Report and have summarised and supplemented them based on our discussions with various stakeholders and our experience with revitalising other regional cities.

There is ample material available from previous studies to identify a strategy and a list of initial projects.

MethodologyIn developing the Strategy, we have adopted a methodology of working from the city centre outward, and from the most important modes to the least important. This is not just to make the Strategy more negotiable, it is how cities benefit the most economically. Cities with legible walkable central activity districts prosper, cities with car based suburban development decline. Developing the Strategy this way is key to the Council addressing the needs expressed by the community in the work that has been done so far. Note we have not used the term central business district or CBD. We prefer to use the term Central Activity District or CAD.

This better describes what the centre of Wagga Wagga should become, not just a centre for business, but a centre for living, working and playing.

If the people of Wagga Wagga are genuinely pursuing a healthy, happy, safe and prosperous city there are some transport and particularly transport integration issues that must be addressed. These issues need to be acknowledged so we can predict and deal with consequences as they occur.

The guiding principles for the study have been articulated as:

• Access for all user types between all trip generators and destinations:

• Provide comfortable, safe and convenient access within and around Wagga Wagga for all ages and abilities, and emerging transport technologies

• Remove access and transport barriers to social, cultural, educational, recreational opportunities

• Connection to activities and public facilities

• Provide connections and ease of movement between all centres and neighbourhoods.

Sensibly invest in the transport system to achieve sustainable economic benefits for the community:

• Develop a transport system that supports economic development and employment

• Develop and manage an economically viable transport system based on long term usage and informed by life-cycle-costing and resource availability.

As future development occurs, move towards a more sustainable and integrated transport system:

• Integrate transport planning with land use initiatives and developments

• Work collaboratively with others to become leaders in universal access in regional Australia

• Reduce reliance on private cars, and instead encourage walking, cycling and public transport

• Healthy people and healthy places.

This is reflective of the Wagga Wagga ‘brand’ being an unpretentious mix of elements that make up a great regional city, the largest in NSW in fact. In this vane MRCagney would like Council to take on a bolder approach to transport. As the largest regional city in NSW Wagga Wagga should be leading the way in terms of transport and land use integration and be a genuine alternative to Sydney.

To achieve this Wagga Wagga needs to not only be a quiet and safe place to raise a family, the city must present as having a wonderfully diverse array of people, jobs and urban development to attract young and old, both blue collar and white collar and from all walks of life.

We will be making recommendations based on achieving the above.


Community and Stakeholder EngagementThere were some exemplar practitioners involved in the engagement with community and stakeholders for this project. The difficulty in engagement for transport strategies is the ability for practitioners to explain to non-practitioners, the balancing act that goes with creating a great city. Almost without exception, regional cities provide too much space to move and store cars, not leaving enough space for people. This will be a key element in the Strategy outcomes.

The PitchWagga Wagga – The world exemplar for regional city movement and place.

The ElementsPedestriansThe way a city generates and treats pedestrians is the secret to its economic success. It is the most efficient, the most accessible, the safest and the most environmentally friendly way to move around. The economic success of cities can almost be directly linked and certainly associated with its level of pedestrian activity.

Pedestrian activity is the mode of movement that is most heavily dependent on good land use planning. That is, if land use origins and destinations are located more than a convenient pedestrian trip apart, then the city becomes slightly less efficient, and less productive. This is why cities with dispersed settlement patterns and high levels of detached houses are doomed to struggle.

Following our methodology working from the inside

out and from most important modes to least important, pedestrian movement in the CAD is our highest priority, as it is in the GTA Background Report.

Pedestrian facilities are mixed in the CAD. Footpath quality is mostly excellent, and if anything too wide. Traffic on many routes is at a level where most people can cross mid-block at their convenience. There are a range of mid-block crossings that have varying levels of success and there are ‘scramble crossings’ or ‘Barnes Dance’ crossings as they are sometimes called. There are varying levels of shade and weather protection and most of the buildings in the CAD are right at the front boundary, increasing the value of the walking experience.

The analysis in the GTA Background Report extracts information from the Pedestrian and Mobility Plan (PAMP) and similarly finds activity in the CAD to be the most important followed by the hospital precinct. Having toured the town extensively we would like to insert an intermediate area as a priority, that being areas within 800m walking distance of schools. Getting children to walk is not about convincing the children, it is convincing their parents. Not specific to Wagga Wagga, but many parents believe they cannot let their children walk to school due to unsafe conditions. Much of this is due to street design. That is wide streets, wide lanes, curvilinear alignments, big house setbacks, no footpath, no shade etc. This all serves to imply that these streets are places for cars not people. A program to introduce 2m footpaths within 800m of all schools is essential for the future of the city. This should be supported by street tree programs and even more dense land development. Regional cities cannot survive another generation of non-walkers. It is a sign of the quality of a city if eight-year-old children are regularly walking to school. Conversely if there are children living within 800m of a school who aren’t walking, this reflects extremely poorly on Wagga

Wagga as a family destination.

The city should also review its subdivision standards to ensure that these poor quality streets do not continue to spread throughout the region. There are many new contemporary national and international examples to use as guidelines, without having to re-invent new standards from scratch.

• CAD Walking

• Walking around schools

• Better mixed land use

Figure 1: Pedestrian spaces are key economic elements to a city


Bike RidingThere have been significant changes in the way riding bikes integrate with Australian cities over the last 10 years. Cities are realising that there is a significant financial and economic advantage in encouraging bike riding over car use. With the exception of walking, bike riding is the travel mode which required the least public money subsidy. Bike riders are also a large spending group when it comes to main street commercial/retail destinations.

A key advantage to riding bikes is that it theoretically opens up more of the city to people than if they were relying on walking. A 20 minute walk is 800m; a 20 minute bike ride is 4-5km. In many regional cities there are limited safe routes for people to ride their bikes, unless they are genuine experienced cyclists. We have to be clear that this is a transport strategy, and is therefore focussed on people who ride bikes in normal clothes at low to moderate speed, as a mode of transport.

It is considered that the strategy outlined in the GTA Background Report and the Active Travel Plan, recently adopted by Council, are appropriate, as they set out core routes through the city, which will ultimately attract development to these corridors.

We must be fully open about what this means. The routes need to be direct and have priority over cars in a general sense. The routes should be protected (on road elements, separated and protected from vehicles), should be free of roundabouts, should be subject to adequate casual surveillance and should be rideable by an unsupervised primary school child. The Kincaid Street example from the GTA Background Report is a good example of this. Although a more contemporary design would be possible with thinner lanes/wider footpaths, this is an economic alternative in the existing pavement.

It will also be important to develop some standard treatments to develop the ‘infil’ network. That is, as maintenance, infill development and even routine resurfacing occurs, bike facilities should be implemented as a matter of course to an agreed standard.

It is economically vital that eventually all citizens get access to genuine bike riding facilities.

The projects in the GTA Background Report need to be expanded to consider more contemporary data on the advantages of separated on street bikeways as opposed to off road bikeways. Whether two-way or one-way on each side of the street, these separated bikeways are proving to be safe. More importantly encouraging all ages to cycle more will realise all the economic, environmental and health benefits that come from that.

Figure 2: New infrastructure standards are changing the role of bikes as a transport mode


Central Link

Legend

N

Forest Hill Link

Kapooka Link

North South Link

Figure 3: Bike riding corridors with 5km radius for catchments.


Central Link

Legend

N

Forest Hill Link

Kapooka Link

North Link

South Link

Figure 4: Principal bike riding network.


Figure 5: Contemporary street cross-section

Public Transport Public transport in regional centres struggles to be as effective as it should for a few reasons:

a) Low density dispersed single use settlement pattern makes routes inefficient.

b) Curvilinear street layout makes bus trips inefficient.

c) Significant public investments increasing road space and parking space makes the alternative to public transport more appealing.

In regional cities, simplicity is the key to transitioning away from an inefficient car based economy to a more sustainable and robust people based movement system. Notwithstanding there have to be coverage routes as explained in the GTA Background Report, at some stage there needs to be a well-defined frequency route that can eventually develop into a car replacement, non-timetable service. This is a service operating so frequently that people won’t have to refer to a timetable.

The development of this as a high patronage regular service would be dependent on Council being able to

cluster medium density development around the route in preference to low density sprawl on the edge of the city. Frequency depends on patronage and patronage depends on walkable villages around public transport routes.

It would be excellent to be able to add a university route to these high frequency routes, however the inappropriate proliferation of low density housing north of the Murrumbidgee River has meant that these routes may struggle for reliability, but is still worth investigating.


TfNSW may indeed opt for the feeder bus option outlined in the GTA Background Report. From our experience this may well involve too many changes for the routes to be competitive with a car trip that has virtually zero delay and extremely cheap or free parking at the end.

Our strategy will be to leave the existing coverage routes in place, and to enhance service on the patronage route as funds become available, supported by a land use strategy that concentrates growth in mixed use clusters along these bus routes.

Private Cars The overuse of private vehicles in Wagga Wagga is detrimental to its long term sustainability, however typical of other regional cities in Australia. The city has been historically designed and is still being developed to encourage motor vehicle use over other modes. If the consultation outcomes are to be accepted, this is not what people want from their city, and the community need some direction on how to recover from the current position.

The future of regional cities in Australia will be about how they untie themselves from car dependence, and the massive advantage the leading cities will have over the other cities in attracting a more diverse demographic and the jobs and investment that comes with this.

The steps to induce a more economically stimulating city through better land use and transport planning are relatively simple, but their implementation require some level of tenacity and patience.

1) Investments in private vehicle infrastructure must be realigned to match the expectations of the community and how they want their city to develop.

2) Land use patterns must allow people more varied travel choices and allow the public transport services to be more competitive.

There are indeed some elements of the road network that have been getting attention as they are ‘irritating’ hotspots in an otherwise smooth flowing network. It is worth noting that a smooth flowing network for car traffic is of virtually no benefit to the city and in fact it is more likely to have a negative impact overall. We need to prioritise as per the community engagement outcomes.

GRAPHIC DESIGNATED FOR REDRAW

Figure 6: Principal public transport corridors


Discussing these hotspots specifically:

1. Glenfield Road/Bourke StThe frustration experienced by drivers in these locations is caused by intersection design more than lack of mid-block traffic capacity. Providing more road space will not improve driving conditions in this situation. Intersections that could be upgraded are outlined in the GTA Background Report.

The question to be considered is how do the intersection upgrades discourage driving and promote walking, bike riding and public transport use? Referring to the discussion regarding bike riders it is in the interests of the city as a whole, not just the car drivers, to remove roundabouts, particularly on the proposed principal bike riding routes.

2. Gobbagombalin BridgeThis piece of infrastructure is the most direct connection between the university, the northern residential suburbs Estella, Boorooma, Gobbagombalin and – slightly less directly – the industrial areas at Bomen. This is an RMS asset, with Council having limited influence over its management. RMS is carrying out a study of its major corridors through Wagga Wagga and ongoing engagement with RMS will be required to ensure that Council does not mismanage its land use planning to undermine how these assets perform. Given this, it is essential that Council place as little pressure on the Gobbagombalin Bridge as possible. It is unlikely that the capacity of this bridge will be increased within the foreseeable future. As a result the market will determine for itself when it stops development north of the Murrumbidgee and directs its efforts elsewhere in the city. It is incumbent on Council not to encourage development in inappropriate places. Residential development north of the river will likely have a significant negative impact on the city. Northern development will direct traffic to the Gobbagombalin

Bridge which has finite capacity, and secondly may well encourage commercial retail development to leak over the river to give these residents services. Either way the city is worse off. The intersection of the Olympic Highway and Old Narrandera Road is an issue that probably can be addressed for safety, and this intersection should probably be closed and traffic diverted back to the Boorooma Street interchange. This further reinforces the need to limit development in this part of the city where it is still possible. This will need to be resolved in association with RMS with further detailed investigation to confirm this treatment is viable.

Road HierarchyThis is the only section of the draft GTA Background Report that needs significant revision. Local authorities around the world are becoming aware of the need to respect streets for the economic value they deliver to land use, and not to overestimate the value that comes from the throughput of car traffic. A contemporary road

Figure 8: Gobbagombalin Bridge – peak traffic issues caused by land use

Figure 7: Community priorities for transport

hierarchy recognises this and uses more appropriate performance and design standards, not necessarily related to traffic volume.

The road hierarchy must graduate to a street hierarchy and let Wagga Wagga develop a proper network of streets, not just roads.

A more appropriate hierarchy of movement and place corridors should be:

• State Arterial Road (as per current hierarchy)

• Regional Road (as per current hierarchy)

• Sub Arterial Road (as per current hierarchy)

Main StreetMain Streets function to encourage prosperous commercial and retail land uses and are central to the surrounding community being integral to the pride of the community and the front door mat to the city. Aside from retail, employment and leisure they can accommodate some housing and other uses such as education etc. They are active throughout the day and into the night. Whilst providing for residential uses is advantageous, residential amenity is not normally a key issue.

walk

cycle

taxi / park + ride

park and ride

bus / ferry /light rail

PRIO

RITY


Figure 9: Quality main street Figure 10: Example mixed use street Figure 11: People in a street for living

Mixed Use StreetThe Mixed Use Street consists of a mix of residential, commercial and retail land uses, occasional services and community uses while retaining some residential amenity.

Living StreetPredominantly for living, the Living Street also supports incidental shops, school and home office. Prioritises places to walk, meet, cycle, play etc. May also convey vehicle traffic, but amenity for living is a priority.

Industrial StreetAn Industrial street must support industrial land use including designations such as:

• Light industry

• Medium industry

• Heavy industry

• General industry

• Service industry

• Hazardous and/or noxious industry.

There is ample research and exemplars easily accessible for Wagga Wagga to develop a new raft of design standards to suit the above hierarchy without having to redevelop anything from scratch.

ParkingThere would not be one regional council in Australia that does not struggle with this issue. Parking is really a symptom of how healthy a city is. The more parking the community is demanding the more complaints a city has, but is often a sign of high activity as well. Demand for parking is created several ways:

• Lack of land use density

• Poor mix of land uses

• Oversupply of road space

• Poor quality street design.

Providing even more parking obviously exacerbates these issues. Parking is a traffic generating land use. It should only take up land if it is in fact the highest and best use for that land and benefits the city. High levels of parking supply (more than one space per residential dwelling and more than one space per 50-100sqm of non-


Figure 12: Inactive pedestrian space created from parking oversupply

residential floor space) are detrimental to cities in several ways:

• Decreases walking, cycling and public transport trips

• Reduces footfall past shop fronts

• Increases the cost of development

• Reduces social interaction in activity centres

• Increases urban sprawl.

Based on the above, Wagga Wagga obviously has a significant oversupply of parking. This is most evident when analysing the rate of return for parking spaces. It is of course zero, as the supply is so high, the spaces have no value. If the supply were to normalise, then the price would go up enabling Council or other investors to get a return for the parking they supply.

A good quality measure of whether there is a genuine shortage in parking supply is how many private sector investors are trying to get into the parking market in Wagga Wagga. Another measure is the number of pedestrians walking around the CAD.

Parking oversupply encourages people to drive around CAD instead of walking. There is nothing more symptomatic of a town underperforming than if a patron can drive to the town centre, park adjacent or very close to their destination, carry out their task and drive to another destination. The key element to the success of activity centres is when people park on the fringe of the centre and walk around the centre to get to their destinations. This behaviour induces high activity in the streets, people spend longer in the centre and they then of course spend more money in the centre. One of the most significant reasons regional activity centres are in decline is a set minimum parking rate applying to new development and an oversupply of parking in general. It is essential this is addressed, however simply ripping out parking is counterproductive. The best way to improve the ratio of parking in the centre is to reduce the amount that gets supplied as the city continues to redevelop.

Moderating, or in this case we are recommending abandoning, the minimum parking rate in the CAD has two benefits. It encourages development in the place where the city needs in most (the Central Activity District) and also the slow reduction in parking supply increases pedestrian activity and hence the economic sustainability of the city.

FreightFreight traffic can be intimidating. The vehicles are large, imposing, and relatively loud and generally have a negative impact on other road users. It is almost without exception that the broader population will want Council to discourage freight traffic out of the city to improve conditions for other users.

Inevitably analysis reveals (as it has in the GTA Background Report), that a significant amount of freight traffic has a destination in the city. People in Wagga Wagga make and consume goods and they obviously have to be freighted in and out. Additionally, Wagga Wagga is a full-service town. Long haul freight is inclined to stop in the city even if there is no freight is to be loaded or unloaded.

Council is encouraging the development of industrial/logistics land at Bomen which will need to be accessed. There is a logical road solution that has been developed by Council and supported by RMS. An independent third party has been exploring a bypass for Wagga Wagga to enable heavy vehicles to divert around the core part of the city. The obvious advantage of this is that some of those intimidating heavy vehicles may divert to this route. This should then enable enhancement of some of the existing heavy vehicle routes to more of a street environment and increase the value of the adjacent land use. The real economic question is whether the increased land value, better road user experience and the reduction in road and street wear and tear can justify the expense of the bypass infrastructure. An independent consultant has completed a route selection, but no business case has been carried out. This will be a RMS project. It is a significant capital expense and the value or otherwise demonstrated by a future business case will determine its timing and staging. There may be some benefits to Council if RMS then go on to reduce the traffic capacity on the Sturt and Olympic Highways, increasing the


rateable value of the adjacent land. There may also be some maintenance benefits on Council roads or streets. The value of all these will come out in the business case allowing Council to make a more informed decision on its support or otherwise for this RMS project.

Integrating Land UseLand use planning is the key to movement in a city. Movement of any mode does not generate itself. It arises from people wanting to get from an origin to a destination. If the origins and destinations are mixed and close together then sustainable transport options can be utilised. If the land uses are single use and low density, then private vehicles must be used. This causes economic and environmental problems.

There are some issues which need to be addressed in terms of land use in order to give the transport strategy any meaning. These are:

• Lack of density in the CAD

• Lack of development diversity and density around the medical precinct

• Extension of unsustainable residential development north of the Murrumbidgee River

• Ease of approval of low density development

• Difficulty in approval of attached and mixed use development.

Lack of density in the CADCentral areas in modern cities are more than business districts. They are places where people live, work and play. Wagga Wagga needs to catch up to this trend to retain and attract the 18-28 high spending entrepreneurial age group to the city. In addition, it is the most efficient type of development and will

contribute most to the economic growth of the city. Minimum parking rates, height limits, density limits etc. all make development that is very desirable to the city less desirable to the development industry. More of this inner urban mixed use development will vastly improve the transport outlook for Wagga Wagga and should be addressed in residential and other land use strategies.

Lack of development around the medical precinctThis is a very common issue in regional cities. Transport issues, including parking, arise around the hospital or medical precinct. This is almost solely a land use issue. We know what sections of the community need to be near hospitals, but we make almost zero allowance for that type of development, forcing all of them to travel from other parts of the city. This does theoretically set up a commercial opportunity for car park operators, but more often than not some form of government entity builds the car parks.

The residential strategy needs to encourage an exciting mixed use precinct around the hospital providing key worker accommodation, retail and hospitality, entertainment, temporary accommodation and public transport access.

Unsustainable residential development north of Murrumbidgee RiverUrban sprawl is the worst of all the city killers. All around Australia, big cities and small are being slowly eaten away by sprawl. This is particularly difficult in the case of Wagga Wagga in that the sprawl is spreading in the one location where these residents won’t be able to access the city. Capacity on the Gobbagombalin Bridge is one of the only links genuinely under pressure in Wagga Wagga. It is unlikely to be

upgraded by RMS in the foreseeable future due to the enormous cost, possibly exceeding $400 million. It is imperative therefore that future development north of the bridge be limited. This means not only residential, but all land uses. Naturally there are approvals that must be honoured, but certainly future re-zonings will have a significant negative impact on the city and must be prevented at all cost. This is one of the most important issues currently facing the city.

Ease of approval of low density developmentOverall there is an oversupply of low density residential development. From a transport perspective this forces too many people to make trips by car. The challenge for Wagga Wagga is to do as some cities have done and continue economic growth while reducing traffic growth through more appropriate forms of development. The new directions on settlement from the residential study should set appropriate development infill targets to address the issue of detached housing over supply.

Difficulties in achieving approval for attached and mixed use Currently the type of development the city needs the most, which are more attached housing and mixed use development around the medical precinct and around the CAD are the hardest to get approved. Conditions around this type of development have to be revisited to make them the least complicated and the quickest to get to market. This will take unnecessary risk out for the development industry and get more of this development type on the ground. This would include looking at minimum parking rates, density limits height limits and “as of right” development qualifications.


The projectsIt is not normal practice to select specific projects for a transport strategy. As the name suggests it would normally produce a series of strategies that filter down to projects as budgets allow. There is an array of projects selected in the GTA Background Report which are logical and will produce improvements to various portions of the city. To assist in providing direction for Council, these projects have been filtered into the most important few overall. These projects represent big changes and would put Wagga Wagga at the head of the pack, in an Australian sense, in creating prosperous and sustainable regional cities.

PedestriansReviewing the projects outlined in the GTA Background Report MRCagney would like to highlight the following projects:

• Update the planning requirements to include

Footway Stay / Chatextra 2.5m or more

Playextra 4.0m or more2.0m minimum

2.0m 2.5m 4.0m

satisfactory rather than minimum pedestrian requirements for all new developments. This means minimum width walkways of 2m to allow people to walk side-by-side. This is a critical factor in making a genuine invitation for people to walk instead of drive.

• Make it obvious to all patrons/students that the mode of choice for accessing schools in Wagga Wagga is on foot. 2m paths, shade and creating low speed streets needs to be a priority.

• For areas of high people volume such as the CAD and people hubs such as the medical precinct, Council should adopt more expansive people spaces such as these in “Complete Streets” (shown below).

In this case 4.5m widths apply directly outside schools, local neighbourhood shopping nodes and around the medical precinct, with 6m widths for the CAD.

• The intersections in the CAD need some review. They are too wide and expansive for proper operation of the “Barnes Dance” or scramble intersections. To reduce the crossing width on all legs would be preferable, as there are no traffic capacity issues.

• There is need for some alignment between the street tree program and the pedestrian program. Street trees are a key element in making people feel welcome in a street and create a wonderful pedestrian environment.

• Avoid a culture of minimum DDA or Standards Australia compliance and introduce a culture of a generous and welcoming pedestrian oriented city.

Bike RidingCouncil has adopted an excellent Active Travel Plan. Key projects for bike riding in Wagga Wagga are:

1) Build the North link of the principal bikeway network.

2) Provide the end of trip facilities in the CAD

3) Build the Forest Hill Link

4) Adopt new contemporary on street bike standards

Bike use is a key economic indicator. Bike use approaching 10% is an excellent indicator of an excellent demographic profile, an excellent land use pattern and well-designed streets. This would be a great target for Wagga Wagga, and once again position it as a regional city leader.

Figure 13: Extract from Complete Streets guiding provision for people space


Public Transport + TaxisKey Public Transport projects for public transport in Wagga Wagga are:

1) In conjunction with TfNSW allow for the build up of higher density and mixed land use on the primary patronage bus routes shown in Figure 14. Note that this project is very dependent on the land use integration and parking outcomes outlined above before any serious discussions can commence on providing higher frequency bus routes.

2) Examine the Baylis Street bus route to look at improvements to provide consistency to timetables. Examine midblock crossings and signal timings. This is a key street on many bus routes.

Private cars + parkingThere are several projects relating to parking and private vehicles that are important for Wagga Wagga including:

1) Remove the minimum parking rate on future development in the CAD.

2) Introduce paid parking into the CAD which will in turn allow the private sector to provide more parking.

3) Examine the parking rates for other uses in the city as a mechanism for creating more desirable development in the right places. We consider the rates from Complete Streets (2010) to be a reasonable estimation of what would be required.

4) Replace roundabout intersections on Glenfield Road with signals commencing with the ‘dual roundabouts’ at Pearson Street and Dobney Avenue.

5) Re-design and possibly even remove the intersection of the Olympic Highway and Travers Street as seek an alternative access from North Wagga around the race track to the CBD. This will improve safety on the Gobbagombalin Bridge.

BL Roam Zone

Legend

LA Roam Zone

GF Roam Zone

WW Roam Zone

WN Roam Zone

FM Roam Zone

Bus interchange

Rapid Route

Figure 14: Primary public transport corridors


FreightThe priority projects relating to freight are:

1) Confirm Bomen as preferred location for freight centre

1) Implement and future proof Bomen road network improvement program for full HML account and future vehicle size increases

1) Work with freight operators to encourage them moving out to Bomen, including incentives such as shared driver vehicle facilities (food, accommodation, truck washing, secure layover), and rezoning of current lands. Some of this work has already commenced.

Section 94 ProjectsSection 94 permits Council to require persons or entities developing land to pay monetary contributions, provide capital works or dedicate land to assist in the delivery of public facilities, amenities and infrastructure to service the land they have developed.

Council has the following Section 94 projects in the pipeline:

• Open space and recreation facilities (39 projects);

• Roads and traffic management facilities (46 projects);

• Civic, community and cultural facilities (6 projects); and

• Car parks (4 projects).

A full list of these projects is identified in the GTA Background Report. These projects are to a certain extent independent of this study. However projects recommended in this study can be considered for future Section 94 contributions.

The Five PillarsWe have chosen five pillar projects that the Council will be able to take to the world and genuinely claim to be leading the pack in terms of prosperous and sustainable regional cities.

1) Remove the minimum parking rate for new development in the CAD;

2) Develop a new street hierarchy and street design regime aligning with worlds best practice of street design;

3) Safeguard, through the residential strategy, against further inappropriate development north of the Murrumbidgee River;

4) Develop and invest in a walk and ride to school program; and

5) Increase more dense mixed use development in the CAD and around the medical precinct.

These projects will represent and deliver significant changes for Wagga Wagga. To aid with this we are recommending another related action, which is to take a selection of people representing community, local business, Council Staff and elected Councillors to visit some key sites. It is difficult to implement these projects, but many cities have done so. It is pertinent to visit these cities and learn from their successes and failures to ease Wagga Wagga’s path to be The world exemplar for regional city movement and place.

peer review & summary of findings - wagga city …€¦ · peer review & summary of...

Documents