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Special Shoalhaven Traffic Committee – Friday 16 September 2022 Page 0 |
TC22.39 Major Event - 50th NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival 2022 (PN 3720)
HPERM Ref: D22/390589
Convenor: David Pieresko
Attachments: 1. PN 3720 Attachment ⇩
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That: 1. The Chief Executive Officer (Director City Services) be advised that the Shoalhaven Traffic Committee has no objection to the proposed traffic management plan (TMP) and associated traffic guidance schemes (TGS) for the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival 2022 (as per D22/391408), subject to the following: a. Council does not support the use of on-street parking for this event and the event organiser is to submit additional supporting evidence identifying parking areas and increased parking capacity to accommodate the remaining number of attendees at off-street parking locations. 2. The recommendation be approved by the Director City Services under delegated authority from Shoalhaven City Council - refer MIN21.411.
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Background
Since early 2020, Shoalhaven City Council has been assisting the South Coast Black Cockatoos with the preparation of the 50th NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival.
A report was previously brought before Council’s Ordinary Meeting on 25 February 2020, which provided background to this event being initially proposed (CL20.32 - Koori Rugby League Knockout - South Coast Black Cockatoos - Event Support). The following recommendation was carried:
“That Council:
1. Congratulate the Black Cockatoos on their success in winning the right to host the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival 50th Anniversary and thank them for their commitment to running the 2020 event in Bomaderry.
2. Commit to allocating $400,000 in the 3rd Quarter Review of the 2019/2020 Budget through an appropriate funding strategy to be determined, to ensure works are completed in time for the event.
3. Note that the costs associated with actually running the event will be met by those other than Council.
4. Immediately commence with necessary works to carry out all improvements at the Bomaderry Sporting Complex and Artie Smith Oval site in accordance with Plan Ref No.1007_40 (Rev1 Dated 11 Feb 2020), such that the event can be run by the Black Cockatoos over the long weekend in October 2020.
5. Commend the staff involved in the expeditious preparation of the site improvement plan developed in close consultation with the organisers of the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival 50th Anniversary to enable this event to proceed in the Shoalhaven.”
As a summary, the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout is one of the largest Indigenous gatherings in Australia. The event draws a large number of participants, including more than 150 teams involved with the proposed activities and an estimated 10,000 people per day over the 5-day event.
The South Coast Black Cockatoos had previously won the title in 2019, giving them the right to host the subsequent event, which was also the 50th Anniversary in the event’s history. This was originally proposed to take place on the October long weekend in 2020. However, due to Public Health Order restrictions at the time, the event was then rescheduled to take place in 2021.
Since this time, the event has been the subject of two traffic impact summary reports to Council’s Executive Management Committee.
The first of these reports (CL21.166) was presented to Council’s Ordinary Meeting on 3 August 2021 when the event was originally proposed to take place on 30 September to 3 October 2021. The traffic impact summary report identified potential risks and traffic concerns surrounding the proposed temporary closure of main arterial roads (including Cambewarra Road) and event parking in proximity to the Bomaderry Sporting Complex and Artie Smith Oval. This report also acknowledged that due to the number of participants and spectators attending the event and the overall impacts to the surrounding non-event community, it would be classified as a ‘Class 1’ event as per s3.2 of the NSW Government’s ‘Guide to Traffic and Transport Management for Special Events’ (‘The Guide’).
Following the receipt of this report, Council provided the following resolution (MIN21.592):
That Council reaffirm its support for the South Coast Black Cockatoos hosting the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival and receive the report for information noting it has been postponed until October 2022.
From this resolution and subsequent rescheduling of the event, the event organisers proposed modifications to the layout of the event and for it to take place on 30 September to 3 October 2022. In summary, this involved separating the event across two sites, taking place at the Bomaderry Sporting Complex on Cambewarra Road (‘Northern Playing Fields’) and Shoalhaven Rugby Park on Flinders Road (‘Southern Playing Fields’). Additional traffic management proposals and modifications were considered as part of this revised layout.
Following this, a second traffic impact summary report was presented to Council’s Executive Management Team on 17 February 2022. From the receipt of this report, the following resolution was made (EM22.49):
With regard to the South Coast Black Cockatoos hosting of the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout Carnival 50th Anniversary, proposed to take place in October 2022, at the Bomaderry Sporting Complex, Bomaderry and Shoalhaven Rugby Park, South Nowra that Council;
1. Provides in-principle support for the event after consideration of the proposed traffic impacts, the most prominent being;
a. Any temporary closure of Cambewarra Rd would have significant impacts to nearby residents and the local road network. There would also be potential impact to access off the Princes Highway, with queued traffic from this closure potentially backing up and encroaching onto the Highway. Council’s preference is that Cambewarra Road remains open throughout the event.
b. Many of the local roads within proximity to the event site in Bomaderry have road widths of less than 7m, and when vehicles are parked on both sides of the road it reduces the remaining trafficable lane to a single direction. This scenario, with cars being unable to pass each other in two directions, will lead to increased traffic queuing, increased risk of traffic incidents, reduction of sight distances, reduction of stopping/braking distances. Council requires adequate measures to mitigate parking related concerns on local streets around the proposed fields.
c. Any proposed measures along Flinders Road will require consideration towards the impacts to daily traffic and potential flow-on effect to the Princes Highway. Council’s preference is that Flinders Road remain open throughout the event.
2. Will, through the CEO (Director City Services), continue to work with the event organisers “on an in-kind basis” in their endeavours to prepare a Traffic Management Plan to mitigate the traffic impacts of the event and in addition, will contribute up to $3,000 towards the cost of the preparation of and expert Traffic Management Plan.
3. Notes that given Council’s in-principle support of the prominent traffic impacts, the Shoalhaven Traffic Committee will undertake a detailed technical assessment of the proposed Traffic Management Plan.
Since this time, Council has been assisting the event organisers and their traffic management specialist (David Del Tufo / TMPACS Pty Ltd) alongside representatives from Transport for NSW to develop their proposed traffic management plan (TMP) and related traffic guidance schemes (TGS) for this event.
Council formally received the draft TMP outlining key traffic impacts and the event organiser’s proposed measures to mitigate these on 8 August 2022, approximately 7 weeks prior to the event’s proposed commencement. After several stakeholder meetings providing the event organisers / traffic management specialist with feedback to incorporate towards the TMP, the final version had been received on t14 September 2022.
Due to this event being classified as a ‘Class 1’ event in accordance with the Guide and as per item #3 from the resolution above (EM22.49), a copy of the TMP and TGS’ for this event has been provided for the Committee’s consideration.
Details of Submission
1. Traffic Management at Playing Fields
As previously discussed, the event will be staged over two sites, taking place at the Bomaderry Sporting Complex on Cambewarra Road (‘Northern Playing Fields’) and Shoalhaven Rugby Park on Flinders Road (‘Southern Playing Fields’). These will be used at the following times:
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Day 1: Friday, 30 September 2022 |
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Both Northern and Southern Playing Fields Active |
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Open to Staff: 6:30am Open to General Public: 8:00am |
Closed to General Public: 6:00pm Closed to Staff: 9:30pm |
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Day 2: Saturday, 1 October 2022 |
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Both Northern and Southern Playing Fields Active |
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Open to Staff: 6:30am Open to General Public: 8:00am |
Closed to General Public: 6:00pm Closed to Staff: 9:30pm |
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Day 3: Sunday, 2 October 2022 |
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Both Northern and Southern Playing Fields Active |
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Open to Staff: 6:30am Open to General Public: 8:00am |
Closed to General Public: 6:00pm Closed to Staff: 8:30pm |
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Day 4: Monday, 3 October 2022 |
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Only Northern Playing Fields Active |
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Open to Staff: 6:30am Open to General Public: 8:00am |
Closed to General Public: 6:00pm Closed to Staff: 8:30pm |
Based on the TMP, it is envisaged that the peak event days for attendance will be between Friday 30 September to Saturday 1 October 2022. The Grand Finals will be held on Monday 3 October 2022, but will be isolated to the Northern Playing Fields.
1a. Traffic Management Solutions – Northern Playing Fields
For the Northern Playing Fields, traffic controllers will be stationed along Cambewarra Road to regulate vehicles heading in both eastbound and westbound directions past the Bomaderry Sporting Complex. In addition to this, a traffic controller will be stationed at the intersection of Barwon Street in conjunction with the controls along Cambewarra Road. Furthermore, a traffic controller will be stationed at the Shoalhaven Basketball Station to facilitate its use for the event’s private purposes.
Temporary speed zone reductions have been proposed to limit speeds at 40km/h and traffic controllers will hold traffic at certain intervals to enable pedestrians to cross the road and access the Northern Playing Fields. Bus drop off areas will be coordinated on northern and southern side fronting the playing fields. The event organisers have proposed to submit a road occupancy license to disable the traffic signals operating the pedestrian crossing on Cambewarra Road.
1b. Traffic Management Solutions – Southern Playing Fields
For the Southern Playing Fields, traffic controllers will be stationed along Flinders Road to regulate vehicles heading in both eastbound and westbound directions past the Shoalhaven Rugby Fields. Temporary speed zone reductions have been proposed to limit speeds at 40km/h and traffic controllers will hold traffic at certain intervals to enable pedestrians to cross the road and access the Southern Playing Fields. Bus drop off areas will be coordinated on northern and southern side fronting the playing fields. On street parking will be restricted by temporary signage and physical barriers along Flinders Road between the intersections of Angus Avenue and Bellevue Street.
Traffic management is also required along Albatross Road at the entrance to the Archer Racetrack, which is proposed to be used for event parking and bus marshalling. Internal parking arrangements will be coordinated by traffic controllers and marshals. Temporary speed zone reductions have been proposed to limit speeds at 40km/h in both directions and traffic controllers to hold traffic at certain intervals to enable busses to enter and exit from the site. On street parking will also be restricted along Albatross Road in proximity to the Archer Racetrack using physical barriers.
2. Event Parking Management
The event organisers have anticipated for the peak event days (30 September and 1 October 2022) that a maximum of 20,000 participants and spectators will be in attendance, or 10,000 individuals split across the two sites. The event organiser predicts that the following event days (2 – 3 October 2022) will see only 10,000 attendees across both sites.
The event organisers have proposed the following sites to be used as event parking for use by participants, spectators and for designated purposes.
The event organisers have also provided justification as to how these parking areas would be used to accommodate the number of participants and spectators, under s3.1.1 of the TMP:
“This event is a competitive event, whereby once a team loses, they are gone from the competition and will leave soon afterwards. Therefore, in evaluating participant and visitor parking, we expect that teams and visitors will leave during the day once their team loses. So, our allocated parking can conservatively be doubled because as people leave, others can take their car space.
On the first two days, it is expected that there will be a maximum of 20,000 people per day including the participants. Approximately 10,000 for each area. To determine our required parking requirements, we have calculated our participating teams – 168 teams x average number of players (max 25), coaches, and staff, which averages to 32 people = 5,376 participants. It is anticipated that all the teams will be arriving by bus or buses. Buses will be parking in Country Motors car park or Archer[s] Racecourse.
We have been able to allocate over 2100 parking spaces for this event for the remaining 15,000 spectators. Due to the cultural and family aspect of this event, we are expecting an average of 3 people per vehicle. Therefore, that’s parking for 6,300 people plus we can double that because people will constantly be leaving as others arrive which equates to 12,600 visitors with allocated parking. That’s approximately 2000 people or 670 vehicles which may need to park on the street between both event areas. Again, vehicles will be leaving regularly as teams lose, so the 670 vehicles can be cut in half to 335 vehicles parking on the street or 170 per area. Both areas can easily manage street parking for over 500 vehicles.
It should be noted that after Saturday, parking requirements for this event will be drastically reduced as there will be fewer teams participating.”
The proposed event parking locations are listed below:
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Northern Playing Fields (locations primarily north of Shoalhaven River) |
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Location |
Estimated Parking Capacity |
Parking Management |
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Country Motor Group 315 Princes Highway, Bomaderry |
50 parking spaces and all busses for the Northern Playing Fields |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Nowra Anglican College 4 West Bunberra Street, Bomaderry
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150 parking spaces |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Bomaderry Highschool 127 Cambewarra Road, Bomaderry |
120 parking spaces and designated parking for accessible use
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3 Traffic Marshalls |
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Bomaderry Tafe 60 Beinda Street, Bomaderry
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290 parking spaces |
3 Traffic Marshalls |
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Bomaderry Community Centre 19 Birrely Street, Bomaderry
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100 parking spaces |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Public Parking 1-3 Bunberra Street, Bomaderry
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48 parking spaces |
No Parking Management Proposed |
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Bomaderry RSL 5 Bunberra Street, Bomaderry
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50 parking spaces |
No Parking Management Proposed |
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Bernie Regan Sports Field 1 West Cambewarra Road, Nowra
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160 parking spaces |
3 Traffic Marshalls |
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Southern Playing Fields (locations primarily south of Shoalhaven River) |
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Location |
Estimated Parking Capacity |
Parking Management |
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Archer Racetrack 96 Albatross Road, South Nowra |
500 parking spaces and all busses for the Southern Playing Fields |
8 Traffic Marshalls |
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South Nowra Football Grounds 15 Mumballa Street, South Nowra
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150 parking spaces |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Shoalhaven Netball Courts 24 John Purcell Way, South Nowra
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80 parking spaces |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Lyrebird Park Lot 1 DP 1127303
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80 parking spaces |
2 Traffic Marshalls |
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Nowra Showgrounds 27 West Street (and associated lots), Nowra
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150 parking spaces |
3 Traffic Marshalls |
The event organisers have provided the following justification to coordinate parking when one area has been filled:
Visitors will be informed, via there team liaison, where they should park based on time slots… To help assist with this flow are the Parking Marshals and Team Leaders of each area. Areas will fill up differently and the marshals will notify the Team Leader how their parking areas are filling or emptying. The Team Leader will inform the Event Liaison person, who can contact the team who can then send a mass text to [their] team visitors of the best parking location. This can all happen within 10 minutes and can help reduce bottlenecks. Also, if vehicles approach areas that are full, the marshals can redirect vehicles to a specified parking area.
However, as indicated above, the event organisers propose to use on-street parking in proximity to both playing fields to accommodate any overflow vehicles outside of the allocated parking areas above. This is estimated to be a maximum of 670 vehicles across both sites. Based on the Traffic Impact Summary Reports to Council Ordinary and advice provided by Council staff to the event organisers, this situation is not to be supported as these local streets cannot accommodate the levels of on-street parking required for the event at its peak attendance. Furthermore, this situation would detrimentally impact upon residential access and local businesses.
3. Public Transport
The event organisers have proposed to arrange for additional public transport options, including shuttles to and from parking areas for both Northern and Southern Playing Fields. These locations and times are demonstrated in the provided TMP.
The event organisers have also indicated that they have liaised with City Rail to provide additional train services from Wollongong to Bomaderry.
The event organisers have ensured that access for emergency vehicles into the event site will be maintained at all times. Emergency vehicle access paths have been provided within the site, maintaining a width of no less than 3.5m and being checked by parking marshals throughout the event’s duration to ensure that no obstruction occurs.
The TMP has provided an Emergency Evacuation plan for both playing fields that will be implemented in the event of an emergency. At the time of this report, the event organisers have also indicated that they are in discussions with representatives from local Fire and Rescue and Ambulance services and have established a working group to propose emergency service access and arrangements for both playing fields.
5. Community Awareness and Event Notice Signage:
The event organisers have proposed to advertise the traffic management arrangements in local print media, the event website, and social media platforms to raise awareness with the non-event community.
The event organisers have proposed to inform directly affected residents and businesses within approx. 500m of the event site of the proposed traffic impacts and road closures.
Variable message sign (VMS) boards have been proposed as part of this event, installed at strategic locations to advertise the upcoming event and proposed road closures to local traffic and residents. These are proposed to be deployed approx. 2 weeks prior to the event start date.
In addition to this, the event organisers propose to provide all attendees with a copy of the Event Map which will highlight the designated allocated parking areas, shuttle buses routes and times and drop off zones.
Risk Implications
Parking on Local Roads and Potential Congestion:
The event is proposed to take place over the October long weekend when there is traditionally a high volume of both day trippers and overnight visitors in the region. There is a ‘higher than usual’ risk of conflict with local residents and visitors, both to the event and tourism broadly. The event estimates 50,000+ people over the 5 days, which will potentially generate conflict between residents and visitors, competing for parking along these local roads.
As discussed above, it has been the position of Council to discourage the use of on-street parking for this event. Many of the local roads within proximity to both playing fields have road widths of <7m that when vehicles are parked on both sides of the road, reduces the remaining trafficable lane to a single direction. This scenario, with cars being unable to pass each other in two directions, will lead to increased traffic queuing, increased risk of traffic incidents, reduction of sight distances, reduction of stopping/braking distances and contravenes the TfNSW safe system framework.
