A trial project designed to create pedestrian comfort and safety parklets in Lismore's CBD is on the way.

The ‘Spaced Out’ project will see two parallel carparks created in Keen and Molesworth streets for three months.

Each parklet will occupy one parallel car park space and include seating, vegetation, tree shade and colourful art to deliver a connection between existing green spaces within the city centre.

The parklets’ locations have been specifically identified to minimise impact to loading bays, pedestrian egress, ensure good vehicle visibility and, importantly, not impact any essential service infrastructure (hydrants etc).

Image: Parklet trial in Western Australia.

The temporary project will run from mid-December 2020, with the Keen Street parklet the first to be installed.

The project will include measurement of the impact of these temporary parklets during the trial period to understand their usage using digital data and QR Codes. 

A Council spokesperson said "should the project receive positive feedback, work will be undertaken with the community in 2021 to identify future temporary parklet locations".

"Engagement with businesses in the vicinity of these two sites will occur in the coming weeks," the spokesperson said.

A Social Distancing Awareness Campaign in the Lismore and Nimbin business centres will also be conducted at the same time as the parklet trial.

Lismore City Council received funding from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environments through its ‘Streets as Shared Spaces’ program to deliver a short-term, quick response project to re-invigorate the CBD in the era of COVID and Social Distancing.