Sneak preview of Holey Moley Golf Club which is set to open in Newtown

Sneak preview of Holey Moley Golf Club which is set to open in Newtown

IT’S one of the most famous shopping strips in Australia. Sporting a theatre, cinema — even its own brewery — and peppered with fancy coffee shops and trendy bars, it’s estimated almost a third of Sydneysiders visit Newtown each year.

But locals have been put on edge by a seemingly innocuous State government plan they fear could all but “obliterate” the main thoroughfare of King St and shut down businesses.

Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), NSW’s road agency, has once again flagged a proposal to turn King St into a clearway on weekends.

Between 8am and 8pm on Saturday and Sundays, parking could be banned on King St to speed up traffic.

There’s no doubt the road, which provides a link to the city’s inner western and southern suburbs, is achingly slow. Analysis by RMS from 2016 found that in the morning peak traffic crawled along at 10km/h, just a quarter of the speed limit.

But critics say the planners are only looking at the issue as one of congestion and have failed to see that Newtown is a, “destination, not a suburb you drive through.”

City of Sydney Labour councillor, Linda Scott, called on the Liberal government to rule out the parking ban.

“When they look at King St, all they see is a road. As a local resident, I know King St is a vital ecosystem that contributes so much to our City’s culture and local economy.

“Weekend clearways will obliterate King St and sap all the life out of Newtown.”

The suburb, whose motto is “Keep Newtown weird”, is where Young Henry’s, one of Australia’s trendiest breweries has set up shop. It’s also the birthplace of arguably the most famous cake in Sydney — Black Star Pastry’s gluten-free strawberry watermelon cake.

The message board at the local fire station, often filled with a topical thought for the day, regularly goes viral.

Local businesses have claimed axing parking and speeding up traffic will make the strip a thoroughly unpleasant place to be.

Many looked in trepidation at nearby Parramatta Rd which funnels traffic to Sydney’s west. Notably faster than King St, and already with various clearways, it is mostly devoid of pedestrians and was once unflattering described as having all the charm of “Beirut on a bad day”.

President of the Newtown Precinct Business Association, Mark Ely, said almost half a million people parked on King St each year and spent an average of $46 each in the local area.

A 2015 survey by the association found 28 per cent of Sydney residents had visited Newtown in the previous 12 months. Of those, 38 per cent mentioned the atmosphere of King St and its venues — including the Dendy Cinemas and Enmore Theatre — as a reason for visiting.

“If you take the kerbside parking away, businesses will close. Many of them rely on the increase in trade on weekends to pay their rents,” Mr Ely told the Inner West Courier.

“It would be the instant death of King St.”

Sydney’s inner west is already in the midst of a road building boom. The multi-billion dollar WestConnex motorway project is due to be tunnelled right beneath Newtown.

In 2015 a protest against the new subterranean motorway shut down King St; one of the residents’ main gripes was the possibility of a clearway being imposed once the new road was opened.

In response, then Roads Minister Duncan Gay said Newtown would become a “nirvana” after the motorway was built. He added, “We’re not going to be putting a clearway up King Street as they suggested. We’re going to fix that parking lot ... by putting a tunnel underneath.”

Newtown MP, the Greens’ Jenny Leong, said the clearway plan was an inevitable result of WestConnex disgorging cars into the inner west.

“The government’s idea of nirvana is a long way from what people want, which is safe, sustainable transport and vibrant, pollution free communities.” she said.

“Decent reliable public transport will solve Sydney’s growing traffic congestion — not turning our streets into clearways and destroying local communities, heritage and vibrant shopping strips in Newtown by encouraging high volumes of fast moving private vehicles.”

News.com.au asked Roads Minister Melinda Pavey if she shared her predecessor’s position that Newtown should remain clearway free, but received no reply.

In 2014, the Roads and Maratime Service said there were “no plans” to introduce a clearway to King St. When contacted this week, the department would not rule out a clearway on the strip, only that “further investigations for clearways on King St had not been carried out” since a proposal four years ago.

“RMS is reducing congestion and delays on Sydney’s roads by installing new and extended clearways on both weekdays and weekends,” a spokesman said.

“After traffic volumes and travel speeds were assessed in 2013, King St was identified for further investigation of possible extended weekday and weekend clearways.

“In developing clearway proposals, residents, councils and businesses are consulted.”

The RMS said clearways currently operate on King St on weekdays from 6am to 10am northbound and from 3pm to 7pm southbound.

benedict.brook@news.com.au