THE City of Stirling has warned that an $8.8 million cut to the Scarborough redevelopment could be “catastrophic” to the success of the project.
In the recent budget, the State Government cut expenditure because a planned road extension was scrapped in May and it spent $500,000 compensating Scarborough businesses affected by the works.
In May, Planning Minister Rita Saffioti abandoned plans to build two roads north and south of the Esplanade because of the detrimental impact on environmentally sensitive dunes.
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READ NOWStirling acting chief executive Michael Littleton said the City was “extremely disappointed” that the money would not be invested back into infrastructure for the project.
“Traffic congestion is already compromising the precinct and with more people expected to come to Scarborough Beach, having no plan to address this issue with either public transport or parking will be catastrophic to the overall success of the project and visitation of the area,” he said.
“The current access and exit points will continue to be congested, with a long-term solution to fix the problem not yet identified and now no funding mechanism by the State Government to deliver an outcome.”
The Government continues to investigate options to improve access issues at the foreshore.
Scarborough MLA Liza Harvey said she was disappointed the Government had not yet made clear any alternative traffic options.
“They have not explained where the funds – as I understand due to come from the proposed Development Contribution Plan – will be redirected if they’re pulled from the project,” she said.
Ms Saffioti said the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA) was reviewing implications for its delivery contract and associated traffic flow improvement works, including the need for additional carparking bays and would work with the City of Stirling.
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