BUS STOP RELOCATION A WELCOME FEATURE OF BRONTE PLAN

By Madeleine Gray on May 31, 2017 in News

Council Plans of Management are not exactly scintillating reading. In fact – and maybe this will be controversial – they are incredibly boring.

However, they also contain vital information about how councils intend to shape and improve public space, so to ignore them based on their monotonous banality would be cutting off our nose to spite our face.

As such, we at The Beast have done the dirty work for you, and have gone through Waverley Council’s Bronte Beach Plan of Management and its Bronte Beach Village Centre Plan so that you don’t have to.

The new Plan of Management boundary runs from the cliff line around both ends of the beach, back along Bronte Park, and up to the slopes behind Bronte Gully.

Just to give you an indication of how dry the language is, and how much innate positivity and tenacity a Council researcher must have in order to not give up, here’s a gem from early on in the Plan: “Results indicate high levels of people visiting the park and beach area alone. However, it was observed that while many people do visit alone, most are in groups of two, walking or exercising together.” Thrilling stuff.

It ain’t all that dry, though, and there are some useful findings, particularly that “pedestrian access from Bronte Road bus stop and car parking is not at an accessible grade and entrance into the park and beach is difficult to identify.”

This is totally true. For a newcomer to Bronte, it might be difficult to ascertain whether the entrance to the park from the bus stop is available to pedestrians, or just to cars. The entrance to the beach from the pedestrian crossing across Bronte Road is also visually ambiguous.

As such, Council intends to, “review and where necessary redesign entrances into the park from Bayview Street and Bronte Road to ensure they are welcoming and easily accessible.” Work on other entrances and accessibility is also promised.

The bus stop on Bronte Road is the other looming issue, and it’s covered in the Bronte Beach Village Centre Plan. The position of the bus shelter next to the park is notoriously confusing for non-locals, as people waiting for buses are often unsure whether to stand there or at the bus stop next to the cafes on the other side of the street.

The new plan would see the latter bus stop relocated into the bus terminal, so as to avoid confusion and unnecessarily missed busses. No doubt this will also be a relief to Nourish and La Plage cafes, whose outdoor seating has long been subject to bus fumes and stumbling bus crowds. It will certainly making moving along the footpath in front of these cafes for easier.

These are the main changes, folks, but you don’t have to take our word for it. Head to www.waverley.nsw.gov.au if you have a spare two hours and an appetite for unflinching detail. I’d recommend brewing a coffee first though.