Council rejects petition to close Park Parade in Cape Paterson

A PETITION signed by local residents calling for the immediate closure of Park Parade in Cape Paterson and a reduction in the speed limit to 30km/h has been knocked back by Bass Coast Shire Council.

The petition had gathered 32 signatures from concerned Park Parade residents citing mounting frustrations over excessive vehicle speeds and a noticeable spike in traffic volumes, particularly during peak summer tourism periods.

Park Parade is a north-south unsealed road situated north-centrally within the coastal township. It intersects with Seaward Drive and creates a continuous thoroughfare down toward Surf Beach Road via Anchor Parade.

Residents argued that the unsealed nature of the gravel track exacerbated dust and noise pollution when motorists used it as a shortcut to bypass busier coastal arteries.

In accordance with Section 55.2 of the Bass Coast Shire Council Governance Rules, the petition was held over from the June meeting to allow council officers sufficient time to evaluate the requests against current municipal policies.

The subsequent evaluation found that the community’s demands directly conflicted with the Cape Paterson Local Area Traffic Management Study (LATM), which was formally adopted by council in 2024.

The LATM study was originally designed to serve as the definitive, data-driven guide for addressing all traffic, safety, and infrastructure concerns throughout the Cape Paterson township.

Council officers revealed that while the 2024 LATM study did acknowledge community feedback regarding speeding and volume issues on Park Parade, the heavy-handed measures requested by the petitioners were not supported by the data.

The engineering assessment concluded that completely closing a connective road like Park Parade would negatively impact the broader network, redirecting traffic onto surrounding residential streets and compromising emergency vehicle access.

Furthermore, dropping the speed limit down to 30km/h on an isolated segment of road did not align with standard Victorian speed zoning guidelines. Consequently, councillors voted unanimously to reject proposed changes.

Council officially noted that the structural traffic changes requested by the residents were not supported by the 2024 LATM framework. Under the approved resolution, council administration will now formally advise the head petitioner of the negative decision and outline the existing traffic management strategies earmarked for the zone.

While the specific requests for road closure and speed reductions were denied, council representatives emphasised that Park Parade remained on the municipality's radar for ongoing monitoring.

Small-scale mitigation treatments approved under the 2024 LATM plan, such as localised dust suppression and routine grading of the unsealed surface, will continue to be deployed to manage the environmental impacts of the current traffic load.