Port Stephens Council has passed a motion to remove controversial public furniture from the Shoal Bay shopping strip.
More than 600 people signed a petition to have the parklets removed and five parking spaces restored.
Helen Love, owner of The Body Spot massage, says she and other community members and business owners were thrilled by the news.
"We're absolutely ecstatic, we thought it was fantastic," Ms Love said.
"We've been consistently at council since January this year and so the whole community is really pleased, and it's good to know that you can actually have a voice."
Locals complained the parklets were impacting business access and made it difficult for elderly shoppers to park.
"Most of the community is an aging community, and so they rely being able to actually pop to the shops and have easy access to the shops," Ms Love said.
"But they took away the main street parking, and they're also doing a lot of works on the foreshore at the moment, so that's reduced parking as well."
The parklets are set to be removed by the end of the month.
But Ms Love says the parklets are only in the "wrong spot".
"We never really had an opposition to the parklets as per se," Ms Love said.
"We've mentioned to them a few other areas around Port Stephens where we think they can be actually installed, so we're just leaving that up to council to figure that out."
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| Image credit: https://www.portstephens.nsw.gov.au/ |
