Temporary measures for Zig Zag Scenic Drive
Council has resolved to close the Zig Zag Scenic Drive to vehicles for 6 months as a temporary measure. The temporary closure is planned to come into effect from the 30 May 2020.
Mayor Margaret Thomas said, “The area is much loved by the community and popular with visitors to our City, which makes the decision to temporarily close the site difficult.”
“However we have to deal with both the ongoing issues at the site, along with the new COVID-19 restrictions and we appreciate the communities understanding at this time.”
“The City plans to undertake further community engagement to gauge the ultimate solution – the current closure is only temporary.”
The site has a long history of issues, with Council approving a sequence of traffic calming and parking improvements in Lascelles Parade and new measures aimed at tourism and addressing antisocial behaviour back in 2014, which were then rolled out by the City. Projects showed promising signs of improvement early on, however the ongoing issues relating to hooning and antisocial activity in the area have continued to be in the spotlight.
Mayor Margaret Thomas said, “We have seen cases of rollovers due to excessive speed in Lascelles Parade, hooning and antisocial behaviour at the upper car park in Lascelles Parade and the bends of the Zig Zag itself.”
“The site is being used as an area to catch up and congregate, despite the message to stay home and undertake social distancing with groups of no more than 2 people.”
"Recently we have also had issues with illegal overnight camping by the side of the road in Zig Zag Scenic Drive where facilities are not set up for this activity; litter and dumping, four-wheel drive vehicles cutting trails into the Gooseberry Hill National Park and damaging the natural environment; conflicts between vehicles driving down the site and cyclists and conflicts between road users.”
The City will prepare a subsequent report to Council after the trial to further consider the matter, taking into account the various community views.
“Post COVID-19 we want to ensure that the site can be utilised by the community and not have a small group ruin it for the wider community. We need to work collaboratively with the community to determine what that might look like.” said Cr Thomas.