Summer Sundays pedestrian strip proposed for North Hobart

HELEN BURNET

A bold new vision for North Hobart has been proposed by Greens Alderman Helen Burnet.

Ald Burnet wants to introduce a trial for a car-free restaurant strip in Elizabeth St North Hobart over Summer. The trial will put cars out and people well and truly in the restaurant strip between Newdegate and Burnett Sts and will include Tony Haigh Walk, which is already foot traffic only.

The proposal is for a pedestrian zone from 11am -9pm for a “month of Sundays”, after the Taste Festival concludes.

“North Hobart is already a popular place to come for food, shopping and entertainment. This trial will provide even more reasons for people to make North Hobart their destination on a Sunday.

“One of the important elements of my motion is to give people incentives to walk, ride, bus or catch a cab to Summer Sundays – and to leave the car at home. This ties in neatly with Council’s Sustainable Transport initiatives. The newly painted Argyle St bike lane is the easy link from the city, and I would like to see more cycling options from other parts of Hobart too”.

The motion also considers involving local performance artists to provide some entertainment.

Ald Burnet believes that the North Hobart strip lends itself to this idea of a pedestrian zone. Traffic is often naturally diverted to Argyle St, and all streets running off the proposed pedestrian zone lead to either Argyle or Andrew St, allowing residents to get in and out easily.

“It also has one of the greatest concentrations and diversity of restaurants and food outlets – 27 just within the proposed zone – and a mixture of other shops such as florists, a gift store, a chemist and grocers. That does not include the 3 pubs with their restaurants and great entertainment, nor the State Cinema – all great reasons to come to North Hobart.

Ald Burnet believes that with careful planning this can be a success. She draws on other examples around the world which have made it work. “There are many examples of where this has been a success and really improved trade for local business, and improved real estate prospects in the area. From Copenhagen to Bangkok, from New York to Melbourne, when a proposal is well thought out and planned to succeed, it has every reason for it to be a winner.

“North Hobart to me is similar in some ways to Acland St in St Kilda – a great diversity of places to visit and for people to flock to. The one disadvantage of Acland St is the through traffic which means footpaths are crowded and pedestrians have to constantly watch out for the traffic.

“Just think how much more enjoyable North Hobart would be if it were a pedestrian zone. We have the chance to make it a car-free zone for a month of Sundays in Summer. I would love this to be the start of something fabulous to celebrate this part of our unique city”, she concluded.