Toronto foreshore plan endorsed by Lake Macquarie City Council despite parking concerns

The Toronto Foreshore Master Plan came back to council on Monday night following feedback from the public, which included 181 submissions during the exhibition period between February 23 and March 22.

The master plan includes a continuous waterfront pathway, an expanded playground, a new town green, improved connections and an expanded cafe area with potential for a bike hub.

But part of the area set to be developed has been used as an informal car park for decades and as a space for people to load and park their boat trailers when using the Royal Motor Yacht Club-managed boat ramp at Bath Street.

The report stated the key issue raised through exhibition was about car parking supply within Toronto, and a concern the plan does not adequately address this.

Concerns were also raised the master plan also does not provide for boat trailer manoeuvring and loading space when using the Bath Street ramp.

Related: Next step in Toronto foreshore redevelopment plans

Councillor Wendy Harrison said while there were a lot of good aspects in the plan, parking was a real area of concern, and believed the community at large wasn't aware the space was not a designated parking area.

She believes the lack of parking and loading space would probably lead to "the demise of boating in Toronto" despite the town's "unique character and history" being tied up with boating.

"One wonders if the lack of parking will result in the foreshore not being used to its optimum," Cr Harrison said.

In response to a community submission about parking, the report said "it is not the role of the plan and foreshore land to provide for the parking needs of Toronto".

Councillor Kevin Baker said the concept seemed to be a plan of "winners and losers".

"It's not the role of this plan to provide for the needs of parking in Toronto ... we're saying we shouldn't take parking into consideration unless that parking happens to be associated with a cafe we want to build or a boat ramp we want to get rid of," he said.

Cr Baker also raised issues with disability access. The plan mentions accessibility will be made from the east and west, but not through the middle. It said "topography makes accessible ramps in the Terraces challenging" and "opportunities for ramps in lieu of steps will be further investigated through detailed design".

"Accessibility is not a nice to have, it's a bare minimum," Cr Baker said.

But councillor John Gilbert said the Lions Park boat ramp, which is two kilometres from Toronto foreshore, "gets a stack more traffic" and that both the community and council have determined the space in question should be "so much more" than just a car park.

Deputy mayor Christine Buckley said there were several other places around the lake that people could launch from, and then drive their boats to Toronto if they wished.

Mayor Kay Fraser said the plan was based off community outcry that green space was needed and pedestrians would no longer need to navigate around big boat trailers.

"I don't think we should be basing our foreshore around boat trailers and boats," she said.

The plan has been controversial over the years. Council initially proposed to built a four-to-six storey residential development on the site, but after strong community opposition this was scaled back to a single story building to possibly be used for a cafe and bike hub.

Council asset manager Brendan Callander said staff would "continue to look at parking in Toronto and surrounds through the development of a Transport Management Plan for the area".

Initial works on the town green are slated to begin mid-2021, with majority of the works to be completed in 2022-2023.

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