Wagga Wagga - Restaurants, Hotels, Pubs, Business Directory, Visitors, Shops, What\'s on, Events, Conference

Comments flow in for Riverside Wagga Wagga

 

Wagga Wagga City Council and NSW Department of Lands are extremely pleased with the community’s response during the start of the community consultation for the Riverside Wagga Wagga master plan.

Nine consultation meetings were held last week with government agencies, key stakeholders and interested members of the community where more than 250 viewpoints were given.

Council’s Project Manager for Riverside Wagga Wagga, Vanessa Keenan, said feedback from residents was important to find out the expectations of the community and possible uses of the riverside area and also its relationship to the Murrumbidgee River and the City.

“The high level of response at the start of the community consultation has proven that there is definitely a lot of community interest in the project, and also for Council and NSW Department of Lands developing the area to its maximum potential,” she said.

“The feedback received has been excellent. There were nine key themes and trends that shone through during the consultation meetings and they will be instrumental in providing a solid base for preparing the draft master plan.”

They were:

1. Establishment of the site as a focal or destination point for the community.

2. The priority for Riverside Wagga Wagga is to be a place for passive recreation.

3. There needs to be both improved and created linkages between the CBD area and the river.

4. Opportunities for commercial development are to be explored and should not impinge on the natural beauty of the area or impact on the focus for passive recreation.

5. The areas cultural history needs to be preserved and highlighted.

6. People would need to feel safe when using the area e.g. crime, anti-social behaviour as well as water safety.

7. Flooding is an obvious constraint which should be explored as an opportunity for the development of passive recreation areas throughout the precinct.

8. The development of the riverside precinct and its various uses needs to be complementary and not pose any conflict between users. This would take into account the location of infrastructure such as the boat ramp.

9. A preference for the adaptive re-use of the Hampden Bridge. This would need to be considered as part of the feasibility assessments of specific components of the master plan.

Ms Keenan pointed out that the nine focus meetings, random face-to-face surveys and an E survey which were carried out, are not the end of the consultation process. The e-survey will remain on the website throughout the duration of the project and further consultations will occur upon completion of the draft master plan.

Residents are encouraged to find out more about the project and keep track of progress by logging onto www.riversidewaggawagga.com.au where the full report can also be viewed.