4 May 2016

They’re ripping up parking lots

| Paul Costigan
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Belco-P1170852

Canberra’s planners in the 1950s and beyond delivered an infrastructure made for cars. There were even major freeways planned (a story for another day).

The road infrastructure until lately has been fairly successful and, in turn, has encouraged locals to use cars rather than public transport. Cars are part of most people’s daily lives.

We might be killing the planet with this convenience but until another mode of powering the personal vehicle is totally introduced, the present carbon-polluting thingies will be with us for a few years yet.

And then there is the issue of parking lots.

In many western cities, much heritage, greenery and open spaces were lost to parking lots.

Luckily for Canberra it was a new city, so vast mounts of parking was provided without much cost to other needs. The bonus was that all this came with greenery in and around the parking lots.

Until about a decade or two ago, there were an abundance of these surface carparks, along with their trees, around the major centres, including the secondary group centres such as Curtin, Mawson, Jamieson, Weston and Dickson.

Admittedly in more recent years some of those trees have not been looking so healthy but at least the original intentions were sound. Sort of.

Dickson-WooliesParkingP1160998

Planners plan. Or at least that’s what they used to do. And Canberra, until the start of this century, is evidence that this system worked. Most of the time.

And then something happened. And to illustrate this change I find myself defending the parking lot. Amazing!

These pre-2000 parking lots are gradually losing their designation as surface carparks, with their generous amounts of greenery, and being classified as part of the government’s land banks, to be sold off to happy developers.

And developers want a bang for the buck, so the end result on these sites is that there are very few trees.

What used to be the role of the planners has largely been replaced by the government’s land development agency, the LDA/Directorate. Their dealings with residents have become a well-rehearsed process.

First comes the much-needed master plan for a shopping centre, along with some agreed words that are spread among the media, such as ‘tired’, ‘neglected’, ‘under-utilised’ and, of course, lacking ‘vibrant’ spaces.

Usually the arrival of the paid consultant to develop a master plan comes as a surprise to locals who did not know they needed a new planning document; over the years there have been a host of neighbourhood plans and related planning committees.

The next surprise is that this new, but lacking detail plan turns into a Trojan horse from which jump the bureaucrats with marvellous innovative schemes to sell the carparks – and other nearby community and parkland facilities. Why? So there can be an abundance of vibrant new developments. Wow! If only the residents had thought of that!

The more worrying is that the LDA/Directorate have encouraged a growth in very tall upright erect towers – being very vertical as well as vibrant.

Belco-P1170849

More seriously for anyone who appreciates the wonders of this city, is that slowly, slowly – or should that be stealthily – as these carparks and nearby areas go under to be replaced with wall-to-wall vibrant edifices, the amount of greenery is being diminished. I suspect not many have noticed, but concurrently in many separate locations across significant areas of Canberra the urban forests are being thinned.

As I said earlier, planners plan. But unfortunately with the current rush on selling off the land banks (previously known as tree-lined car parks) planners and environmental advisers are not engaged in the processes to ensure that when any of the greenery is removed, more is planted to compensate for the loss.

The manner in which carparks are removed also varies depending on the neighbourhood.

In Dickson the lazy approach was taken to simply sell off the plot of land and then to be seen to scratch around (unsuccessfully) to see how the present shopkeepers may survive this major disruption. The only solution? Chop down some more trees. Of course.

I am sure the owners of the Woolies store are not too happy to see the nearby carpark go under before a multi-level parking structure was put in place to ensure minimal disruption over the next two to three years. This was indeed very possible given the size of the land sold and that a parking structure could have been built at one end before the new supermarket construction commenced.

Hang on – did I just write words in support of Woolworths? OMG!

Meanwhile, in Belconnen, when the carpark and an abundance of trees are to go under for a marvellous vibrant tall structure, for some reason the multi-storey carpark will go up first, well before the main building is commenced.

Why here and not in Dickson? Someone suggested it could be something to do with having the Labor Club next door and their reliance on the car park for patrons. Surely it cannot be just that?

Belco-Labor-P1170846

So would I prefer the carparks to stay? Well yes. At least while the only option offered has been for more tall towers that please the developers and result in the subsequent huge loss of trees across Canberra. I sense we will soon lose that garden city badge.

If anyone were to plan for far more appropriate developments and for the replacement of trees with even more, then there is a conversation that many people who embrace this city would just love to have.

Maybe the new Environmental Commissioner, just appointed, should be looking into the situation, whereby in the rush to erect more and more vibrant developments, the city is being subjected to a significant loss of greenery and associated biodiversity.

Maybe she could examine how all these losses can be justified when the ACT Government boasts about how it is addressing climate change. Really?

Joni Mitchell has a great song about parking lots – Big Yellow Taxi (1970)

Tracy Chapman has a wonderful song about enjoying driving – Fast Car (1988)

Neil Young loves his cars – Long May You Run (1976) – This a later version.

 

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Zan said :

Walked across that vale of broken asphalt, concrete, half dead vegetation, rubbish and diurnally abandoned fossil fuel burners at the back of the Canberra Centre.

Wish they’d rip this lot up!

The Bega flats are actually being improved soon.
They are being demolished.

Arthur Davies said :

pink little birdie said :

A_Cog said :

HenryBG said :

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

Must admit I don’t agree with paid parking in Phillip or other semi industrial areas. But lets be realistic here and look at other town centres, did Belconnen Town Centre die or businesses shut en-mass when paid parking was introduced? Nope, so why would Phillip be any different, except as another excuse to whine?

That’s the wrong way to look at it. You shouldn’t be asking “why not?”, you should be asking “why?”. There’s absolutely no reason to have introduced paid parking at either of those centres, other than the fact that the government is desperate for money to make up for their overspending during the last 4-5 years. That’s the only reason they have to do it and I don’t think it’s a good enough one. Even a rusted-on Labuuur supporter should be able to see that.

User pays.

You use. You pay.

Walked across that vale of broken asphalt, concrete, half dead vegetation, rubbish and diurnally abandoned fossil fuel burners at the back of the Canberra Centre.

Wish they’d rip this lot up!

Arthur Davies said :

pink little birdie said :

A_Cog said :

HenryBG said :

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

Must admit I don’t agree with paid parking in Phillip or other semi industrial areas. But lets be realistic here and look at other town centres, did Belconnen Town Centre die or businesses shut en-mass when paid parking was introduced? Nope, so why would Phillip be any different, except as another excuse to whine?

That’s the wrong way to look at it. You shouldn’t be asking “why not?”, you should be asking “why?”. There’s absolutely no reason to have introduced paid parking at either of those centres, other than the fact that the government is desperate for money to make up for their overspending during the last 4-5 years. That’s the only reason they have to do it and I don’t think it’s a good enough one. Even a rusted-on Labuuur supporter should be able to see that.

Umm my first line read “Must admit I don’t agree with paid parking in Phillip or other semi industrial areas” Thought that was reasonably clear.

The point I was making is when introduced elsewhere, Belconnen for example there wasn’t an en-mass closure of business as a result. Still doesn’t get away from the fact industrial areas shouldn’t have paid parking.

Silly me, I thought the self government we voted against so many times was in order to “improve” the services to the public. How is it that a successive government gets away with removing a service provided by a previous one ?
At the very least, if public land is sold off to a developer there should be a caveat in the planning that the developer provide at least equivalent free parking and or rooftop landscaping accessible by the public. If the aim of creating inconvenience and expense for private vehicle owners is just to make the city greener, at least make parking free for electric or low polluting vehicles (public transport is often not that good an option for people living at the extremities of the city or even outside the borders).
Of course even if there were such planning provisions, the developers would likely just grease a few palms to get around them.

pink little birdie said :

A_Cog said :

HenryBG said :

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

Must admit I don’t agree with paid parking in Phillip or other semi industrial areas. But lets be realistic here and look at other town centres, did Belconnen Town Centre die or businesses shut en-mass when paid parking was introduced? Nope, so why would Phillip be any different, except as another excuse to whine?

That’s the wrong way to look at it. You shouldn’t be asking “why not?”, you should be asking “why?”. There’s absolutely no reason to have introduced paid parking at either of those centres, other than the fact that the government is desperate for money to make up for their overspending during the last 4-5 years. That’s the only reason they have to do it and I don’t think it’s a good enough one. Even a rusted-on Labuuur supporter should be able to see that.

devils_advocate said :

A_Cog said :

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

I occasionally used to go into Phillip and never had much trouble finding a park. I also bet that the staff employed in those small businesses will enjoy paying $9pd + annual formula based increases, for parking now !

This was unnecessary – except for yet another revenue grab.

There’s also the fringe benefits tax implications of having paid parking nearby for all the businesses that allow their staff to park for free on their property behind the stores. Well done ACT Labor. You’ve screwed business again.

A_Cog said :

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

I occasionally used to go into Phillip and never had much trouble finding a park. I also bet that the staff employed in those small businesses will enjoy paying $9pd + annual formula based increases, for parking now !

This was unnecessary – except for yet another revenue grab.

A_Cog said :

HenryBG said :

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

Must admit I don’t agree with paid parking in Phillip or other semi industrial areas. But lets be realistic here and look at other town centres, did Belconnen Town Centre die or businesses shut en-mass when paid parking was introduced? Nope, so why would Phillip be any different, except as another excuse to whine?

dungfungus said :

Mysteryman said :

chewy14 said :

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

The route is in the public domain. Now if you actually ventured anywhere in the North, even in your V8 petrol guzzling car you would see there is no on road parking anywhere along Northborne Ave or Flemmington Road. So no on-road car parks will be lost in that corridor, nor any traffic lanes.

That said I would have a educated guess there might be some lost is on Hibberson street, but frankly most of that road should be a car free pedestrian mall even now.

And if I recall the Gungahlin town centre design was the brain fart of the Liebral government, Minister for Urban Services Tony De Domenico specifically, when they were in power. A main road should never have lead smack bang into the centre of the town centre like it does. Flemmington road should have met Mirrabai drive with minor roads feeding in.

I don’t drive a V8; a very fuel efficient 2 litre petrol hatch is my choice.
Wherever light rail is added to established thoroughfares carrying large amounts of vehicle traffic, there is resultant increased congestion so nearby vehicle only roads are “optimised” to carry the displaced vehicles.
The first thing that goes is parking on these roads so clearways can takeover.
Isn’t the whole idea with Canberra’s light rail to eliminate cars so, with no cars, no parking required.

Here in Canberra, unlike the Sydney example you are trying to scare monger with* the light rail will be down the very wide median strip except for Hibberson street.

So no road lanes lost and no street parking to be lost (except maybe Hiberson street).

* A fair bit of the Sydney light rail will be in the median too, though between a Todman Ave and High street the median disappears hence the need to remove parking and make the road a 24h clearway.

You obviously didn’t read the full content of what I said.

I read exactly what you said, talking about side streets. Even in Sydney it is not the side streets they are stopping parking on, it is Anzac Parade where the road narrows. Hiberson Street is the only part of the route in Canberra where the road narrows.

John Hargreaves said :

Car parking isn’t a problem in Phillip. There must be a hidden agenda for the government to do this.
The hourly costs are outrageously high also.
Got my car rego renewal last week; $1,095.40 for a 2 litre hatchback is simply too much.
Maybe shopping at Queanbeyan will extend to living at Queanbeyan.

If you lived in QBN yeah your rego would be cheap but your green slip, well… Might make you realise that the rego component of rego in the ACT is very minimal, like about $330 p/a. Doesn’t go too far really.

Mysteryman said :

chewy14 said :

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

The route is in the public domain. Now if you actually ventured anywhere in the North, even in your V8 petrol guzzling car you would see there is no on road parking anywhere along Northborne Ave or Flemmington Road. So no on-road car parks will be lost in that corridor, nor any traffic lanes.

That said I would have a educated guess there might be some lost is on Hibberson street, but frankly most of that road should be a car free pedestrian mall even now.

And if I recall the Gungahlin town centre design was the brain fart of the Liebral government, Minister for Urban Services Tony De Domenico specifically, when they were in power. A main road should never have lead smack bang into the centre of the town centre like it does. Flemmington road should have met Mirrabai drive with minor roads feeding in.

I don’t drive a V8; a very fuel efficient 2 litre petrol hatch is my choice.
Wherever light rail is added to established thoroughfares carrying large amounts of vehicle traffic, there is resultant increased congestion so nearby vehicle only roads are “optimised” to carry the displaced vehicles.
The first thing that goes is parking on these roads so clearways can takeover.
Isn’t the whole idea with Canberra’s light rail to eliminate cars so, with no cars, no parking required.

Here in Canberra, unlike the Sydney example you are trying to scare monger with* the light rail will be down the very wide median strip except for Hibberson street.

So no road lanes lost and no street parking to be lost (except maybe Hiberson street).

* A fair bit of the Sydney light rail will be in the median too, though between a Todman Ave and High street the median disappears hence the need to remove parking and make the road a 24h clearway.

You obviously didn’t read the full content of what I said.

chewy14 said :

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

The route is in the public domain. Now if you actually ventured anywhere in the North, even in your V8 petrol guzzling car you would see there is no on road parking anywhere along Northborne Ave or Flemmington Road. So no on-road car parks will be lost in that corridor, nor any traffic lanes.

That said I would have a educated guess there might be some lost is on Hibberson street, but frankly most of that road should be a car free pedestrian mall even now.

And if I recall the Gungahlin town centre design was the brain fart of the Liebral government, Minister for Urban Services Tony De Domenico specifically, when they were in power. A main road should never have lead smack bang into the centre of the town centre like it does. Flemmington road should have met Mirrabai drive with minor roads feeding in.

I don’t drive a V8; a very fuel efficient 2 litre petrol hatch is my choice.
Wherever light rail is added to established thoroughfares carrying large amounts of vehicle traffic, there is resultant increased congestion so nearby vehicle only roads are “optimised” to carry the displaced vehicles.
The first thing that goes is parking on these roads so clearways can takeover.
Isn’t the whole idea with Canberra’s light rail to eliminate cars so, with no cars, no parking required.

Here in Canberra, unlike the Sydney example you are trying to scare monger with* the light rail will be down the very wide median strip except for Hibberson street.

So no road lanes lost and no street parking to be lost (except maybe Hiberson street).

* A fair bit of the Sydney light rail will be in the median too, though between a Todman Ave and High street the median disappears hence the need to remove parking and make the road a 24h clearway.

HenryBG said :

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Bet all those little shops in Phillip are looking forward to paid parking being introduced there come July. I’m sure it’ll do wonders for their business.

HenryBG said :

dungfungus said :

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

The route is in the public domain. Now if you actually ventured anywhere in the North, even in your V8 petrol guzzling car you would see there is no on road parking anywhere along Northborne Ave or Flemmington Road. So no on-road car parks will be lost in that corridor, nor any traffic lanes.

That said I would have a educated guess there might be some lost is on Hibberson street, but frankly most of that road should be a car free pedestrian mall even now.

And if I recall the Gungahlin town centre design was the brain fart of the Liebral government, Minister for Urban Services Tony De Domenico specifically, when they were in power. A main road should never have lead smack bang into the centre of the town centre like it does. Flemmington road should have met Mirrabai drive with minor roads feeding in.

I don’t drive a V8; a very fuel efficient 2 litre petrol hatch is my choice.
Wherever light rail is added to established thoroughfares carrying large amounts of vehicle traffic, there is resultant increased congestion so nearby vehicle only roads are “optimised” to carry the displaced vehicles.
The first thing that goes is parking on these roads so clearways can takeover.
Isn’t the whole idea with Canberra’s light rail to eliminate cars so, with no cars, no parking required.

I’m across the road from Woden Westfields, and there is no reason for the paid parking here, we have plenty of parking capacity and there is no reason other than revenue raising to add paid parking here.

Unfortunately being across the road and having many street visible vacant guest spots in my complex, im guessing they will all be full from now on with people trying to avoid paying the fees. I’m sure the police and government service hotline are going to love me calling up every weekend to report people illegally parking in our apartment complex.

dungfungus said :

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

The route is in the public domain. Now if you actually ventured anywhere in the North, even in your V8 petrol guzzling car you would see there is no on road parking anywhere along Northborne Ave or Flemmington Road. So no on-road car parks will be lost in that corridor, nor any traffic lanes.

That said I would have a educated guess there might be some lost is on Hibberson street, but frankly most of that road should be a car free pedestrian mall even now.

And if I recall the Gungahlin town centre design was the brain fart of the Liebral government, Minister for Urban Services Tony De Domenico specifically, when they were in power. A main road should never have lead smack bang into the centre of the town centre like it does. Flemmington road should have met Mirrabai drive with minor roads feeding in.

John Hargreaves said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

And now this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-to-expand-pay-parking-rules-in-phillip-from-july-20160505-gomsbp.html

Thanks, Labor/Green government. You lot really have your fingers on the pulse when it comes to what Canberra needs and wants.

Sorry, I mean hands in our pockets. You lot have you hands firmly in our pockets.

Oh well, I used to like occasional shopping in Phillip. Now, its off to Fyshwick or Queanbeyan instead.

Car parking isn’t a problem in Phillip. There must be a hidden agenda for the government to do this.
The hourly costs are outrageously high also.
Got my car rego renewal last week; $1,095.40 for a 2 litre hatchback is simply too much.
Maybe shopping at Queanbeyan will extend to living at Queanbeyan.

Masquara said :

I remember visiting the exhibition up at the National Capital Exhibition up a few years ago and noting that every surface car park within a couple of kilometres of Civic were shown on their model as buildings.

All made out of shipping containers?

Narzor said :

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

I was hoping you could tell me where JC as you seem to have inside information with everything the ACT Government is involved in.
And don’t tell me that that there is nothing in the business plan to eliminate street parking. While that may be the case now, it will be like the government saying 13 months ago that Canberra Casino would not get poker machines yet today they are getting at least 200.
And anything with parking in Canberra has everything to do with the tram project so the thread about Sydney’s problems is quite appropriate, not that anyone on this blog seems to care.

wildturkeycanoe said :

And now this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-to-expand-pay-parking-rules-in-phillip-from-july-20160505-gomsbp.html

Thanks, Labor/Green government. You lot really have your fingers on the pulse when it comes to what Canberra needs and wants.

Sorry, I mean hands in our pockets. You lot have you hands firmly in our pockets.

Oh well, I used to like occasional shopping in Phillip. Now, its off to Fyshwick or Queanbeyan instead.

Queanbeyanite8:23 pm 05 May 16

How will they pay off the billion dollar tram debt if they continue to only get < 0.5% usage of public transport?

Your betters know what's good for you, you can wave to them as their chauffeurs whisk them to their Civic compound.

rommeldog56 said :

wildturkeycanoe said :

An outbreak of common sense at last:
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-abandons-magistrates-court-car-park-for-tram-construction-compound-20160503-golmx0.html

And this, which is what Canberra will have “to look forward to”:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/city-east/sydney-light-rail-businesses-and-motorists-prepare-for-loss-of-parking-and-traffic-lanes-on-anzac-pde/news-story/be6539720b7c94328cb1f99bd2defebc

Where in Canberra will we lose traffic lanes and street side parking as a result of light rail? And what does this have to do with this thread anyway?

ChrisinTurner3:31 pm 05 May 16

I remember visiting the exhibition up at the National Capital Exhibition up a few years ago and noting that every surface car park within a couple of kilometres of Civic were shown on their model as buildings.

With this city increasingly being run, it seems, for the benefit of property developers where is the political choice for a ‘better’ not ‘bigger’ Canberra? While I’m at it, when will develop a more diverse resilient & sustainable economy, not so heavily reliant on short term cash grabs from asset sales?

They’re just responding to local demand – why waste space on carparks when Canberra drivers would prefer to park on the footpath or nature strip because it saves them walking an extra 20 metres? It’s especially ironic when it occurs at sporting events and gyms.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Please. The purpose of surface car parking has always been land banking for future development, there is no significant loss of anything.

I disagree – often, car parks are in fact put on land that is unsuitable for other use.

Take the car park in Manuka – that was a floodway. Now it has a great big shopping centre on it with apartments and underground parking. Where is the floodwater supposed to go? I guess the taxpayer has to worry about that now, not the developers who have choked off the floodway.
They did this a lot in Wollongong, with absolutely disastrous results in 1998.

I remember the hoo-hah when they replaced a whole bunch of grassy spaces inside London Circuit in Civic with car parks.
So that is another trajectory for land use
grassy-space amenity –> car parks –> high-rise.

And now this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-government-to-expand-pay-parking-rules-in-phillip-from-july-20160505-gomsbp.html

Thanks, Labor/Green government. You lot really have your fingers on the pulse when it comes to what Canberra needs and wants.

Sorry, I mean hands in our pockets. You lot have you hands firmly in our pockets.

Holden Caulfield12:20 pm 05 May 16

Russ said :

…Big Yellow Taxi is not really “about” parking lots. Nor is Fast Car about “enjoying driving”. I’m all for shoe-horning your musical tastes into your articles, but seriously, man! 🙂

Yes, a little bit odd. Although the failed relationship and hopelessness themes from Fast car perhaps do apply to the OP and his feelings towards development in this city.

As a general comment, I think Paul needs to stop bemoaning the planning decisions of GovCo, at least for a little while. It’s clear that he’s more than likely going to be critical of whatever it is they do (and often with good reason). However, unless the currently reliable revenue created by land sales can be replaced, we’re going to have to get used to this bipartisan approach of developer-friendly approvals from our elected officials.

At the moment the biggest takeaway from this piece, and recurring themes from other articles, is that trees are king. Trees are pretty cool, I do admit. Is there more, have I missed anything?

It seems as though we’re stuck with the continual development of “empty” land for now, so let’s hear some ideas about how we can incorporate greenery in new development. Rooftop gardens offering new publicly accessible views over Canberra could be great.

I want to see Paul get creative in offering his thoughts on how he thinks we can improve the current development directions signed off by GovCo.

I quite liked the sculpture walk he suggested a while back. Perhaps that could be adapted to include elevated placements on the constantly emerging buildings in the CBD? Should GovCo mandate that a percentage of any development budget includes some sort of greenery or other great idea that I can’t come up with in this five minute response?

Over to you Paul.

wildturkeycanoe said :

Please. The purpose of surface car parking has always been land banking for future development, there is no significant loss of anything.

There u go. What rubbish. Do all car parks have a sign saying “Reserved for future Development” out front. The reality is in this new, hipster growing up Canberra, that all undeveloped or unutilised land is in effect a “land bank” – not just car parks. The “land bank” concept applies equally to ovals, green spaces, cycle ways and cycle paths, or any land or building what so ever that the ACT Labor Govt’s developer mates can get their hands on to make a quick $ out of.

However, it no doubt suits your anti car, pro cyclist views to single out car parks as “land banks”

The only “significant loss” as car parks at shopping centres and other commercial places are reduced, will be the business (who are also employers), whose turnover will certainly be adversely affected because of the drop off in customers who have to drive in.

switch said :

Surface parking is an extremely poor, inefficient, unsightly use of land in town centres.

Then it should be multi story or underground parking. In its initial proposal to ease car parking problems on Gartside Street, Wanniassa (where there are may eateries), the ACT Govt initially proposed an underground or a multi story car park. It was apparently shelved due to cost. So, I would expect that surface parking will still be the go in most places.

Without car parking, the town centres will die economically.

tooltime said :

By all means, we should be more creative with our spaces; for example, why not turn a single level car park that is on a gradient into a multi-storey car park? (The official answer is probably “cost”, but there is also a cost to having insufficient car parking.)

A former workplace of mine put a steel deck over the carpark outside our building which almost doubled its parking capacity.
I don’t know how much it cost, but I do know that when they implemented boom-gate parking they found they had massively underestimated the income it would produce and were embarrassed at the size of the income stream it delivered.

Much as I can’t fault your taste in music, Big Yellow Taxi is not really “about” parking lots. Nor is Fast Car about “enjoying driving”. I’m all for shoe-horning your musical tastes into your articles, but seriously, man! 🙂

Please. The purpose of surface car parking has always been land banking for future development, there is no significant loss of anything.

Surface parking is an extremely poor, inefficient, unsightly use of land in town centres.

I recognise that I am being pernickety, but I hate the term “parking lot”. In this country, are they not most commonly referred to as “car parks”? Parking lot is more suited to a nasal California accent than our own.

Thanks for the article. Not a new issue, though… I campaigned on the issue of car parks being overtaken by development in the 2008 election.

By all means, we should be more creative with our spaces; for example, why not turn a single level car park that is on a gradient into a multi-storey car park? (The official answer is probably “cost”, but there is also a cost to having insufficient car parking.)

A large issue for businesses and commercial property owners, especially outside Civic, is that many shops/ commercial properties were built with the expectation that the car parks across the road or otherwise nearby would continue indefinitely. New developments take over the pre-existing car park, and older businesses are left with insufficient opportunities for their patrons to visit, all the while commercial rates continue to increase.

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