A council spokeswoman confirmed they had not received a development application for the wire fence which now runs along the boundary of the car park located on the corner of Morrisett and Collett Street and adjacent to Kmart. It is believed to have been put up more than a week ago.

Residents are unhappy with the fence as it cuts off access between the Woolworths and Riverside Plaza car parks. The area was commonly used as a thoroughfare for residents to visit various local businesses in the shopping centre and nearby amenities like the GP Super Clinic and Australia Post.

The Queanbeyan City Council spokeswoman said they had received "numerous" complaints about the fence.

The Queanbeyan Age contacted Riverside Plaza management for this story but was told no one was available for comment.

Carole Bennett is just one of many local residents unhappy with the change.

She cycles down to the shops once or twice a week to run errands and said the fence restricts access and was an inconvenience for shoppers and commuters wanting to access the bus stop on Collett St.

"It affects me a lot [having this fence up] because I come down Collett Street, through to my doctor's, the post office, through the Woolies and down to the newsagent by push bike or walking," she said.

"The fence means I have to spend more time on the road on a push bike and at my age of 73-years-old it's getting more risky. Coming through the car park was safer and kept me off the road.

"Give me a good reason why this fence has been put there?"

Geoff Ryan questioned management about the fence on the Riverside Plaza Facebook page and received this reply: "The car park you refer to is a Riverside Plaza-owned car park and the fence has been erected to provide convenient and safe parking for our customers."

Another resident Tracy Menzies left this comment: "It has upset a lot of the locals.The older people like parking there instead of the main parking area because it's not as busy. Riverside Plaza could have thought about putting a walkway through at least."

Mrs Bennett said Riverside Plaza's reasoning for the fence was an "unnecessary claim" and "an excuse."

"What difference does [the fence] make to unsafe or safe car parking spaces?" she asked.

Mrs Bennett believed a good solution to the problem would be to create a pedestrian walkway through the fence to allow cyclists and commuters access through the car park rather than having to walk around it.

She said she had spoken to others who were also irritated about the change.

"Everybody's annoyed. It's not the time [it takes to go around], it's about the access. It sort of culls your freedom," she said.

The Queanbeyan Age also spoke to William and Loretta Jones, 86 and 77-years-old, who weren't happy with the new addition.

"It is a little bit annoying," Mr Jones said.

"We come down here two or three times and park at Riverside Plaza because the [Woolworths'] car park is always full. It's very inconvenient [this fence]."