Love it or hate it, Orange City Council wants to hear your thoughts on the Lords Place south upgrade

OCC has put the next stage of its FutureCity upgrade of Orange's central business district up for comment after previously canvassing impacted businesses for their thoughts last month, where it received a mixed reception.

The loss of 23 parking spaces from the Lords Place block is one of the major concerns however a GHD report into overcoming that loss encouraged Tuesday night's council meeting to hold the project up for public scrutiny for 21 days.

The draft plans can be viewed on the Your Say Orange site (link below). There is also a seven question survey and a community forum is planned for Thursday September 22.

It will be held at upstairs at the Hotel Canobolas ballroom from 6pm.

Earlier this year the Lords Place South project was awarded a grant of $500,000 from the NSW Government's Streets as Shared Spaces program, designed to deliver trials that test permanent changes that strengthen the accessibility and economic vitality of a high street and surrounding area.

Orange Mayor Cr Jason Hamling is calling on the community to learn more about the plans and have their say.

"The beauty of this government grant is that it's intentionally designed to trial changes," Cr Hamling said.

"The government wants communities to test the idea of creating spaces where the focus has switched from cars to people. A place where people park somewhere else and then spend time in attractive, fun spaces. If these ideas work, that will shape the design of future changes to revitalise the heart of our city."

To make the Lords Place south block more pedestrian friendly, the plan is to narrow the street to a more defined two lanes of traffic, one in each direction.

Council staff have explained that while Lords Place is one lane in each direction, the width of the road surface encourages use beyond those lanes which encourages higher speeds, in turn making crossing the street difficult.

As part of the plan a 40km speed limit will be introduced.

"There are potentially huge benefits in creating an 'eat street' in the heart of our city that will work all year round and boost our night-time economy. If we want to make our CBD an attractive place to meet, this is great start," Cr Hamling said.

"But there will be changes to the routines we're used to. We want to hear from the community how they weigh up benefits of creating this new destination, alongside impacts such as the loss of some parking spaces."

Tuesday night's council meeting considered a report from consultants GHD looking at ways to reduce the impact of the proposed loss of parking spaces.

According to the report, the impact of the loss of 23 car parks can be managed by modifying timed parking zones in Lords Place and nearby streets.

During Tuesday's meeting Cr Frances Kinghorne thanked staff for getting the GHD parking report quickly after the matter was deferred when councillors asked for more information at their August 16 meeting.

"We have to find the right balance between what's beautiful and what's practical," she said.

The project also includes new plantings of advanced trees which will almost double the number of trees in the block, outdoor-dining zones in selected areas along the block, improved street lighting and expanded gardens with new street furniture

The draft plans can be viewed on the Your Say Orange site at https://yoursay.orange.nsw.gov.au/big-plans-for-lords-place

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