Perth Voice Interactive

VINCENT council has put off plans to make Harold Street one-way after backlash from neighbours, with mayor Alison Xamon summing the issue up as “frustration”.

The little slither between Beaufort and Vincent streets has long been a source of frustration for locals because of rat-runners and pick-ups from the Sacred Heart primary school making it difficult to get out of their own homes.

In March the council deferred a decision on whether to make it one-way, but at its last meeting the council backed away from that plan to focus on a precinct-wide strategy to deal with increasing traffic and density.

The biggest opposition came from residents of Chatsworth Road in Highgate who fear Harold’s problems will simply be pushed onto them.

Lou Cotter lives on Chatsworth Road and says he’s aware of the problems Harold Street residents face.

“Harold Street needs something to sort out their problem, but we don’t want the problem shifted to Chatsworth,” Mr Cotter said.

He disputed a traffic assessment from Vincent staff showing Chatsworth as a fairly trouble-free thoroughfare that wouldn’t be adversely affected by the changes to Harold.

“The evidence of accidents along Chatsworth Road is not reflected in the statistics, because there’s a log of people – including myself – who’ve had cars damaged and not reported them to anyone,” Mr Cotter said.

“It’s pretty expensive because they’re usually hit and runs.”

Neighbour John Meggitt agreed and said the plan ran counter to best-practice guides because it would divert traffic onto a lower-rated road.

“It’s an ad hoc response to managing traffic in the area, which will limit future options within the precinct.

“As a result of this we are seeing the residents of Chatsworth Road lining up against the residents of Harold Street,” he said, urging councillors instead to focus on the precinct-wide plan.

That got a sympathetic hearing from councillor Jonathan Hallett who moved the amendment to focus on nodes along Beaufort Street and a broader look at why the area has so many black spots.

“And so it’s really important that we do act across the precinct, but some areas are going to require works more quickly than others,” Cr Hallett said.

“If we have a coherent plan that addresses the entire precinct, it allows people to see where they fit within that timeline.”

He says Harold Street would be a priority for a node at the intersection with Beaufort, but Chatsworth would be soon after and he hoped that was something its residents could live with.

Ms Xamon took aim at Main Roads for lagging behind the growing city, saying she supported increasing density, but it needed greater state government investment and co-operation with councils.

“Like every other councillor I’m supportive of a precinct-wide approach, at the same time acknowledging the sheer frustration of those residents that are being affected on a daily basis,” she said.

Council staff will now have until February to present councillors with a plan, with the aim of having it adopted in 12 months.

by STEVE GRANT