Rodney Stevens 

Members of Valley Watch and Yamba CAN Inc are concerned that Clarence Valley Council’s Draft Active Transport Strategy DATS doesn’t address critical locations in Yamba that are “an accident waiting to happen”.

They have put together a submission on the DATS calling for “crunch points” at the Yamba Co-Op entrance and the intersection of Harbour and Clarence Streets in Yamba to be improved before a pedestrian is hurt or killed.

Spokesperson Rob Mylchreest said while the DATS is a commendable document in many respects and its aspirations are great for the valley, the timeframes on some projects are years away.

“The staging of projects, we’d like to see changed in a few areas around Yamba, depending on funding,” he said.

Mr Mylchreest said the DATS covers a lot of areas across the valley but two critical areas that have been left out have raised a lot of concern among members of the groups.

“The fish co-op entry is a big problem for both vehicles and pedestrians alike,” he said.

“The other one is the Clarence Street access to the Whiting Beach area.”

Mr Mylchreest said he had discussions with council’s Alana Brooks about only permitting vehicle access one way up Clarence Street, but it seemed to “have fallen off the radar”.

“It’s a dangerous spot for pedestrians and it’s a very bad intersection for cars as well, it’s copped some mention in the DATS but there’s no solution of pathways for pedestrians on Clarence Street, longer term its more about a cycleway,” he said.

Another area of potential danger identified by the groups was the Harbour Street access to the Whiting and Turners Beach areas, which is packed with cars in peak times, leaving a dangerous, uneven roadside for pedestrians to negotiate.

“The construction of a path from Yamba Street along Harbour Street towards Whiting Beach is badly needed,” he said.

“There are far too many people walking on this roadway during holiday times when excess vehicles from the Calypso Caravan Park are parked along the western side, leaving little room for pedestrians.”

Other suggestions by the groups in their submission included establishing a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Harbour and Yamba Streets, across from Pinewood Café to the Calypso Caravan Park, and a solution to keep pedestrians away from traffic where the pathway from Ager Park to Pippi Beach ends.  

Submissions to the DATS, which are considered public documents, close at 4pm on Thursday, March 28.

To lodge a submission visit https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/Forms/Make-a-submission