21 October 2016

Parking a problem at Ainslie shops

| wildturkeycanoe
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car-parking-dickson

Ainslie shops parking has been always pretty average but now on certain days it is a nightmare. My wife works there on random hours and now, even though she leaves early because of the chaos across Northbourne, she can’t get a park anywhere on Wednesdays. All the side streets are limited time, so unuseful.

The solution? Buses won’t work as she could be called in with only an hour’s notice but buses take over an hour to get there. Yesterday, she had to take a limited stay spot and hope to not get booked. Fridays are also quite bad. What else can one do but hope not to get booked and lose the day’s pay to the government. I have no confidence in the government or “fix my street”, they seldom respond beyond the automated email reply and prefer to push people onto public transport, regardless if it is useful or not.

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Masquara said :

Masquara said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.

Please don’t post incorrect information like this. Cox Street – which runs past the front of the Ainslie Shops – has unlimited, unsigned broken-line parking two minutes from the shops. You’re wrong about Ebden Street. Three minutes from the front of the shops, other than the few metres of the top of the T juntion (for obvious reasons), Ebden Street is ALL unlimited parking with broken lines. All the way along.

And that is of course minutes’ WALKs!

What if it rains? Will someone think of the children please…

Masquara said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.

Please don’t post incorrect information like this. Cox Street – which runs past the front of the Ainslie Shops – has unlimited, unsigned broken-line parking two minutes from the shops. You’re wrong about Ebden Street. Three minutes from the front of the shops, other than the few metres of the top of the T juntion (for obvious reasons), Ebden Street is ALL unlimited parking with broken lines. All the way along.

And that is of course minutes’ WALKs!

wildturkeycanoe said :

The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.

Please don’t post incorrect information like this. Cox Street – which runs past the front of the Ainslie Shops – has unlimited, unsigned broken-line parking two minutes from the shops. You’re wrong about Ebden Street. Three minutes from the front of the shops, other than the few metres of the top of the T juntion (for obvious reasons), Ebden Street is ALL unlimited parking with broken lines. All the way along.

wildturkeycanoe said :

JC said :

Either way don’t see a simple answer in Ainslie nor do I think it is a government responsibility to ‘fix’ either.

So planning isn’t a government responsibility? What is the LDA, ACTPLA? Whole departments dedicated to planning. As much as public transport is a government responsibility, roads and parking also fall into their jurisdiction. The retailers can’t expand or redevelop an area without the red tape that is required by the authorities.
Yes, old shopping centres weren’t planned for such growth. That is why something needs to happen to keep up with the times. If every business moves away because the centre can’t cater for them, the centre dies.

Yet again you still haven’t mentioned what the solution is.

As for your scenario, maybe the center dying is what is needed. That would then give the owners the opportunity to pull it down and rebuild it into a centre that meets the needs of 2016 and beyond, including sufficient parking for their tenants and their customers.

The governments roll is to facilitate the planning, not be the developer which is what you seem to be inferring.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Electric bike? At $1000+ each it’d be cheaper to park illegally and risk the fines, plus still not fast enough for the half hour max travel time required for a late booking. What about wet weather?

Then get a motorbike or motor scooter and wear a raincoat. And no, it’s not cheaper to park illegally and risk the fines. The money you can potentially save on the running costs of a car is more than enough pay for a new e-bike, or even a motorbike, every year.
But feel free to keep knocking back the work arounds. It’s your situation, not mine.

I don’t think it’s reasonable that the business takes bookings on only an hour’s notice, leaving your wife with just 30 minutes travel time. This policy effectively forces employees to drive a car, taking up parking spaces that could otherwise be used for paying customers. Also, it will be increasingly more difficult to meet that deadline as Canberra grows, just getting through the traffic.

Does the business really make that much money from short notice bookings? Surely this problem would be easily solved by having a minimum two-hour notice period, which would open up so many more transit options.

wildturkeycanoe9:03 am 25 Oct 16

JC said :

Either way don’t see a simple answer in Ainslie nor do I think it is a government responsibility to ‘fix’ either.

So planning isn’t a government responsibility? What is the LDA, ACTPLA? Whole departments dedicated to planning. As much as public transport is a government responsibility, roads and parking also fall into their jurisdiction. The retailers can’t expand or redevelop an area without the red tape that is required by the authorities.
Yes, old shopping centres weren’t planned for such growth. That is why something needs to happen to keep up with the times. If every business moves away because the centre can’t cater for them, the centre dies.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Electric bike? At $1000+ each it’d be cheaper to park illegally and risk the fines, plus still not fast enough for the half hour max travel time required for a late booking. What about wet weather?
There might be 60 parks out the front but they are time limited to 1 hour or less, no good for a busy day when you need to move the car between clients. There is insufficient all day parking, a problem that should not be a regular worker’s problem to solve. If businesses are expected to relocate because of this issue, which affects customers too, the planning for the centre has been badly done. If there was insufficient parking at the new ASIO building, they wouldn’t blame the staff, it is the government’s fault for not planning for future growth.
Maybe my wife will have to go to the footy club and walk the rest of the way, but don’t expect any sympathy for club members who then have to park at Dickson because the club carpark is filled by employees from surrounding retail centers.

So you still haven’t stated what the answer is.

As for poor planning I disagree very much. The centre was planned for another time. Things have changed demand has changed and it is up to the owners and tenants to change to meet the changing demand. The owners could be the individual businesses choosing alternative business premises that meet the demands of their staff and clients (move) and/or owners of the shopping centre providing sufficient parking of the right type to allow their tenants to conduct business. With costs passed onto tenants of course. Either way don’t see a simple answer in Ainslie nor do I think it is a government responsibility to ‘fix’ either.

wildturkeycanoe9:41 pm 24 Oct 16

Electric bike? At $1000+ each it’d be cheaper to park illegally and risk the fines, plus still not fast enough for the half hour max travel time required for a late booking. What about wet weather?
There might be 60 parks out the front but they are time limited to 1 hour or less, no good for a busy day when you need to move the car between clients. There is insufficient all day parking, a problem that should not be a regular worker’s problem to solve. If businesses are expected to relocate because of this issue, which affects customers too, the planning for the centre has been badly done. If there was insufficient parking at the new ASIO building, they wouldn’t blame the staff, it is the government’s fault for not planning for future growth.
Maybe my wife will have to go to the footy club and walk the rest of the way, but don’t expect any sympathy for club members who then have to park at Dickson because the club carpark is filled by employees from surrounding retail centers.

wildturkeycanoe said :

The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.

The employer can’t do much about parking as they are a tenant of the building, not the owner. You can’t just expect the boss to move the business because parking is terrible, nor can you be choosy about where you work in a job market as bad as it is right now. The only solution is to just get in early if possible and go around and around till someone leaves.

So what exactly do you want done then? Get the government to turn more of Wakefield Gardens into a carpark? BTW I can count over 100 carparks at Ainslie shops. 60 odd outthe front

And I disagree re the owner moving the business. If carparking is important to the clientele and to the workers then it is in THEIR interest to move somewhere that is less restrictive.

bringontheevidence2:24 pm 24 Oct 16

Why not park near the football club? That’s only about ten minutes easy walk from the Ainslie shops and used to have plenty of available parking during the day.

wildturkeycanoe said :

It is 18km from our place and definitely not going to be done in under an hour, plus as I mentioned, need to be there in half an hour to get ready for the client with an hour’s notice.
The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.
The employer can’t do much about parking as they are a tenant of the building, not the owner. You can’t just expect the boss to move the business because parking is terrible, nor can you be choosy about where you work in a job market as bad as it is right now. The only solution is to just get in early if possible and go around and around till someone leaves.

An 250W electric bike will do 18kms in under an hour, easily. They cut out assistance at 25km/h.

An alternative solution is to encourage other people to cycle and actually support cycling infrastructure rather than complaining about cyclists because, you know, they don’t take up parking spaces.

wildturkeycanoe8:26 am 24 Oct 16

carnardly said :

I just googled the distance between Higgins and Ainslie. it’s under 15 kms.

I expected it to be significantly further.

You may be further out of course, but you also may be further in.

15 kms is totally doable on a bike for any normally healthy person in well under an hour.

It is 18km from our place and definitely not going to be done in under an hour, plus as I mentioned, need to be there in half an hour to get ready for the client with an hour’s notice.
The Ebden Street suggestion is no good because there is no on street parking and you will get booked parking on the grass verge as it is also illegal. The other side streets around the shops are either no stopping zones or way too narrow to park on anyway.
The employer can’t do much about parking as they are a tenant of the building, not the owner. You can’t just expect the boss to move the business because parking is terrible, nor can you be choosy about where you work in a job market as bad as it is right now. The only solution is to just get in early if possible and go around and around till someone leaves.

I just googled the distance between Higgins and Ainslie. it’s under 15 kms. I expected it to be significantly further. You may be further out of course, but you also may be further in. 15 kms is totally doable on a bike for any normally healthy person in well under an hour.

JC said :

This has nothing to do with light rail and everything to do with an expanding population. Which actually means more customers for businesses which cannot be anything but a good thing.

As for the parking situation bottom line is business owners should be providing their own parking pure and simple. And in this case the business owner would be the owner of the shopping centre (which btw isn’t the government).

If a tenant feels there is insufficient parking to the extent it effects their business then maybe they should relocate to somewhere that has more parking.

The owner of almost all of the Ainslie Shops is Manual Xirakis. His parking options are limited by heritage requirements (as it should be). Ainslie Shops are still lovely exactly because they are protected from the developer-friendly government. If a business thinks its clients need easy parking, it will need to set up in one of the less desirable suburban centres.

bringontheevidence2:10 am 23 Oct 16

Paid parking is inevitable across most of the inner north and inner south, and it’s got nothing to do with the light rail.

Ainslie was historically a lower income area of the inner north with a run down set of local shops. It’s now a popular, well used area with a very good collection of health services, some top restaurants and bars and an innovative and successful local supermarket.

The local residents aren’t going to allow their park to be paved for additional car parking spaces to service these facilities, so that means either paid parking will be required to get the most out of the existing spaces, or paid parking will be required for building a second level parking deck behind the shops.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Not on Wednesdays any more, some parents/mothers group has increased the numbers and driving around the block and side streets 3 times didn’t produce any vacancies.

Do you mean Paint & Play? It’s been running at Ainslie shops on Wednesday mornings for years. It’s on 9:30 to 11:00, so the pressure on parking should ease off a bit after that time, and school holidays should be better, as the program doesn’t run then.

i travel between clients too and regularly do it on a bike. i just wash my face and do baby wipes and BO basher between jobs. i don’t stink.

There is always a way if you just think outside the square. if you want to, you’ll find a way. otherwise its called an excuse. 🙂

wildturkeycanoe said :

Masquara said :

Maya123 said :

Book what…client of what…if I am allowed to ask, or you are willing to say?

The brothel at the Ainslie Shops closed down in the late 1980s.

Very immature. Now you know why I hesitated in saying it earlier. FYI, it is remedial and pregnancy massage, a bonafide profession.
But this is about lack of parking for all people. It is an issue across Canberra that will only get worse as the government tries to find money for the tram. There’ll be more pay stations, shorter stays and less spots as the population grows to fulfil the tram prophecy of 500,000 residents in the next few decades.
Parking for shoppers isn’t as much a drama, but employees and business owners will hurt from lack of long term spaces.

This has nothing to do with light rail and everything to do with an expanding population. Which actually means more customers for businesses which cannot be anything but a good thing.

As for the parking situation bottom line is business owners should be providing their own parking pure and simple. And in this case the business owner would be the owner of the shopping centre (which btw isn’t the government).

If a tenant feels there is insufficient parking to the extent it effects their business then maybe they should relocate to somewhere that has more parking.

wildturkeycanoe8:45 pm 22 Oct 16

Masquara said :

Maya123 said :

Book what…client of what…if I am allowed to ask, or you are willing to say?

The brothel at the Ainslie Shops closed down in the late 1980s.

Very immature. Now you know why I hesitated in saying it earlier. FYI, it is remedial and pregnancy massage, a bonafide profession.
But this is about lack of parking for all people. It is an issue across Canberra that will only get worse as the government tries to find money for the tram. There’ll be more pay stations, shorter stays and less spots as the population grows to fulfil the tram prophecy of 500,000 residents in the next few decades.
Parking for shoppers isn’t as much a drama, but employees and business owners will hurt from lack of long term spaces.

Maya123 said :

Book what…client of what…if I am allowed to ask, or you are willing to say?

The brothel at the Ainslie Shops closed down in the late 1980s.

wildturkeycanoe said :

The original problem as I mentioned, was that using public transport, including cycling, isn’t an option as a client may book an hour before the allotted time spot. This means you need to drive in order to get there in time. Belconnen to Ainslie is far quicker in private vehicle and you need to be there at least half an hour early to prepare for the appointment. Bus will not do that, nor will cycling or a combination especially in the rain. Walking 4 or 5 blocks in summer is not practical, especially when you can’t show up smelling of b.o. and aren’t allowed to use perfume or strong anti perspirants for sensitive noses.
A normal 9 to 5 job fine, for part time/casual/contract work it isn’t possible and you need to park nearby.

Finding reasons for not being able to walk a few blocks is getting a bit precious. Heaps of other people do that and arrive in suitable condition for work. Including in summer or rain.

Could your wife discuss the problem with her employer? Maybe they could increase the lead time for people booking appointments (an hour is pretty short notice), or provide somewhere for her to freshen up after a walk.

Sometimes you just have to find a way to make a situation work for you, even if it isn’t what you’d prefer.

wildturkeycanoe2:58 pm 22 Oct 16

Maya123 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

carnardly said :

drove around the block twice?

why don’t you go 4 or 5 blocks away and you can find one easily. people just expect to be able to park right the the front door.

buy a fold up bike for a few hundred bucks.

ride it, or ride it part way with public transport. it will have paid for itself in a short time and any time you ride it after that is ‘profit’.

The original problem as I mentioned, was that using public transport, including cycling, isn’t an option as a client may book an hour before the allotted time spot. This means you need to drive in order to get there in time. Belconnen to Ainslie is far quicker in private vehicle and you need to be there at least half an hour early to prepare for the appointment. Bus will not do that, nor will cycling or a combination especially in the rain. Walking 4 or 5 blocks in summer is not practical, especially when you can’t show up smelling of b.o. and aren’t allowed to use perfume or strong anti perspirants for sensitive noses.
A normal 9 to 5 job fine, for part time/casual/contract work it isn’t possible and you need to park nearby.

Book what…client of what…if I am allowed to ask, or you are willing to say?

Remedial massage. If there are available time slots not booked, it is a waste to drive across town, but if someone books an hour prior, it becomes a race to get there and be ready for them.

wildturkeycanoe said :

carnardly said :

drove around the block twice?

why don’t you go 4 or 5 blocks away and you can find one easily. people just expect to be able to park right the the front door.

buy a fold up bike for a few hundred bucks.

ride it, or ride it part way with public transport. it will have paid for itself in a short time and any time you ride it after that is ‘profit’.

The original problem as I mentioned, was that using public transport, including cycling, isn’t an option as a client may book an hour before the allotted time spot. This means you need to drive in order to get there in time. Belconnen to Ainslie is far quicker in private vehicle and you need to be there at least half an hour early to prepare for the appointment. Bus will not do that, nor will cycling or a combination especially in the rain. Walking 4 or 5 blocks in summer is not practical, especially when you can’t show up smelling of b.o. and aren’t allowed to use perfume or strong anti perspirants for sensitive noses.
A normal 9 to 5 job fine, for part time/casual/contract work it isn’t possible and you need to park nearby.

Book what…client of what…if I am allowed to ask, or you are willing to say?

wildturkeycanoe said :

carnardly said :

drove around the block twice?

why don’t you go 4 or 5 blocks away and you can find one easily. people just expect to be able to park right the the front door.

buy a fold up bike for a few hundred bucks.

ride it, or ride it part way with public transport. it will have paid for itself in a short time and any time you ride it after that is ‘profit’.

The original problem as I mentioned, was that using public transport, including cycling, isn’t an option as a client may book an hour before the allotted time spot. This means you need to drive in order to get there in time. Belconnen to Ainslie is far quicker in private vehicle and you need to be there at least half an hour early to prepare for the appointment. Bus will not do that, nor will cycling or a combination especially in the rain. Walking 4 or 5 blocks in summer is not practical, especially when you can’t show up smelling of b.o. and aren’t allowed to use perfume or strong anti perspirants for sensitive noses.
A normal 9 to 5 job fine, for part time/casual/contract work it isn’t possible and you need to park nearby.

Ebden St is three minutes walk away – one block – with limitless free parking.

wildturkeycanoe12:30 pm 22 Oct 16

carnardly said :

drove around the block twice?

why don’t you go 4 or 5 blocks away and you can find one easily. people just expect to be able to park right the the front door.

buy a fold up bike for a few hundred bucks.

ride it, or ride it part way with public transport. it will have paid for itself in a short time and any time you ride it after that is ‘profit’.

The original problem as I mentioned, was that using public transport, including cycling, isn’t an option as a client may book an hour before the allotted time spot. This means you need to drive in order to get there in time. Belconnen to Ainslie is far quicker in private vehicle and you need to be there at least half an hour early to prepare for the appointment. Bus will not do that, nor will cycling or a combination especially in the rain. Walking 4 or 5 blocks in summer is not practical, especially when you can’t show up smelling of b.o. and aren’t allowed to use perfume or strong anti perspirants for sensitive noses.
A normal 9 to 5 job fine, for part time/casual/contract work it isn’t possible and you need to park nearby.

Dear Rioters, you shouldnt post pro public transport AND then complain about not being able to park handily! Personally, I am pro car.

drove around the block twice? why don’t you go 4 or 5 blocks away and you can find one easily. people just expect to be able to park right the the front door.

buy a fold up bike for a few hundred bucks. ride it, or ride it part way with public transport. it will have paid for itself in a short time and any time you ride it after that is ‘profit’.

wildturkeycanoe10:19 pm 21 Oct 16

Masquara said :

There’s always parking right behind the Ainslie Shops! I have never not found a park there. 90 per cent of the time I find a park out the front.

Not on Wednesdays any more, some parents/mothers group has increased the numbers and driving around the block and side streets 3 times didn’t produce any vacancies.
The new plan is to arrive an hour earlier to give plenty of time to find a spot.
Walking 3 blocks from some dirt car park isn’t ideal. Getting a bus part of the way won’t help either, as unless you catch it from Belconnen, any further on the route you have even worse issues with finding parking such as Civic and Braddon. Then you pay for fuel,bus fare and parking. That would cost more than the product of one hour of work which sometimes happens because of client cancellations or a slow day.
I think the only solution the government will implement is paid parking, just like everywhere else that has had parking issues.

There’s always parking right behind the Ainslie Shops! I have never not found a park there. 90 per cent of the time I find a park out the front.

Maryann Mussared6:09 pm 21 Oct 16

I genuinely feel for people who need to park for the day to access their workplace. Sometimes it is not even a case of finding an all day free parking spot, but even finding a paid parking spot. I remember my indignation when paid parking was introduced in Deakin in 1989, then it followed me to Belconnen Town Centre a decade later. Unfortunately it isn’t going to get any better. Along with the tram, which won’t arrive soon enough, our progressive government needs to come up with an integrated transport strategy for the 21st century that gets more people around all the time, not just in peak hours and not just on the set commuter routes. The fold-up scooter has its merits and I have friends who swear by their electric bicycles.

Leon Arundell5:42 pm 21 Oct 16

I’m sure there are plenty of streets in Ainslie with unlimited parking, if she is prepared to walk.

Multi-mode transit is probably your best bet. Park just outside the limited parking area and walk or ride the rest of the way. Or park near the bus route and catch the bus the rest of the way.

“Fix my street” is for reporting maintenance issues, not “more parking please”.

Perhaps you could doorknock and potentially reach an agreement with a nearby neighbour for permission to park on their property, for a nominal weekly fee?

Don’t worry, haven’t you heard?

Soon every citizen of the ACT will have a tram passing their front door every 2.4 minutes direct to every other location in the ACT…and it will be free (to ride and to build)…and there will be a complimentary soft-serve ice-cream dispenser on board.

Or something like that.

runtheredlight2:15 pm 21 Oct 16

What about parking in the dirt lot on Angas Street, opposite Goodwin Ainslie, behind Majura Oval and walking to the shops?

Holden Caulfield12:29 pm 21 Oct 16

O’Connor Shops, Kingston Shops, Griffith Shops and similar; copy, paste, repeat.

Charlotte Harper11:45 am 21 Oct 16

I had this very problem yesterday. We drove around the block twice to try to find a spot and eventually found one near the park behind the shops. It’s a common problem at Griffith, Manuka, Kingston and Civic, too.

I wish I could cycle or take the bus, but given I travel all over the city for work and have to ferry kids around at the start and end of the day, that’s not possible for me at the moment.

Carpooling is, though. In recent days I have been able to hitch a ride with colleagues a fair bit, which has been excellent.

Uber and taxis are great if you can afford them.

Another option for those who are able is to park a few blocks away and use a fold-up scooter to get to and from the car. I have done this a bit in Braddon and can recommend it.

The tram will fix it………?????

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