10 September 2013

Coe uses parking at Calvary as excuse to fingerpoint

| Barcham
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It’s almost comforting to see how quickly politicians have slunk back into their usual day to day roles post election.

Oh look, it’s one politician claiming to be doing the community a service by pointing at another and “calling on” them to do better.

This time it’s Shadow Minister for Urban Services Alistair Coe, and the issue used as a platform to criticise the opposition is parking at Calvary.

Business as usual.

“Several constituents have come to me angered that they can’t find a proper car park at Calvary Hospital,” Mr Coe said.

“Some, who have waited months for appointments have had to cancel simply because they have struggled to find a place to park on time.

“Some have raised concerns about safety. With a lack of sealed parking, the only option for patients and staff is to park on uneven and unsealed ground, which poses significant safety risks in wet conditions, or for those with mobility issues.

“ACT Labor has promised for nearly a year now to address the parking situation, but has obviously failed to follow through on its commitment to patients and staff.

“Rates have continued to rise and hundreds of millions have been promised for light rail but a basic essential amenity like parking at one of the City’s major hospitals is being neglected.

“I call on ACT Labor to resolve this issue for the people of Canberra as a matter of priority,” Mr Coe concluded.

If these reports are true and not horrendously exaggerated then yes something needs doing, but I cannot believe for a second that Coe cares about anything beyond the chance to “call upon” his rival.

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JC said :

Martlark said :

Calvary is on a major bus route with dozens of buses an hour. There is no need for the masses of ad-hoc gravel parking in Calvary.

What a load of bullshit. Whilst yes there are many buses everyday ever stop to think the reason the carpark is so full is because people are in a rush (like I was last week when my mum was admitted to Emergency), or people are stopping in to see people in their lunch break, or appointments when they are working.

For me to get the bus from my work in the Parl triangle to the hospital it would take me roughly an hour each way. To drive at that time of day 15 minutes.

So keep the use your bus comments for those doing 9-5 jobs, and even then stop and think that buses due to the very nature of this city are not viable for everyone, myself included.

When my wife had a baby at Calvary I rode my bike there after work to visit. When my friend with MS had a relapse and stayed there for a week I took the bus at lunch to visit. Did not take much effort.

The reason there is no parking for visits is due to all the full time workers there driving and taking all the spots. An effective pay parking scheme would have resulted in plenty of spots to park. The craven populism of the Government has prevented visitors from parking.

As someone who was making weekly trips to Calvary I have to say parking is simply diabolical. I stopped looking for legal parking spots very early on and would just head straight to the dirt track to park. Then I’d have to unload a pram on the dirt track and push it up hills and onto the road while cars whizzed past me looking for spaces because other cars had parked on the footpath, blocking all access to any users. It’s a serious problem. If you are in anyway physically incapacited it is not fun and I would guess a serious fall/injury risk.

The other issue I had was when I was 8 months pregnant and on crutches was not being able to find a seat at the taxi zone outside the emergency entrance. Those seats which were available were in the open which was no help when it was raining. I waited for nearly an hour once for a taxi and ended up having to sit on the concrete, under the shelter, because I just couldn’t stand anymore. I wrote a letter to Calvary saying how hopeless this situation was and how given it’s a hospital facility which sick people use maybe they could look into some sheltered seating at a taxi zone. they wrote back saying ‘yes, we’re looking into it’.

Hopeless.

Arthur McKenzie10:43 am 12 Sep 13

Given the reports are true and not horrendously exaggerated I can believe that my local member’s care and interest is genuine and is totally consistent with the notion that the community has every right and responsibility to call upon the government to do their job in serving the community. I can’t believe anybody would want to suggest anything less.

Considering there is at most a couple of days work for a grader operator and a couple of truckloads of road base every now and then I think the $1.3m consulting fees before it is ‘shovel ready’ as the government spokeswoman said, shows how this has all the earmarks of another dam project in the making – i.e no tangible benefit for mammoth waste of money.

Martlark said :

Calvary is on a major bus route with dozens of buses an hour. There is no need for the masses of ad-hoc gravel parking in Calvary.

What a load of bullshit. Whilst yes there are many buses everyday ever stop to think the reason the carpark is so full is because people are in a rush (like I was last week when my mum was admitted to Emergency), or people are stopping in to see people in their lunch break, or appointments when they are working.

For me to get the bus from my work in the Parl triangle to the hospital it would take me roughly an hour each way. To drive at that time of day 15 minutes.

So keep the use your bus comments for those doing 9-5 jobs, and even then stop and think that buses due to the very nature of this city are not viable for everyone, myself included.

I got stuck attempting to park at the top of the larger parking bay, where there’s a boom gate. The first time I came across it, the boom lifted and I was able to park. The second time it was dead, forcing me to do a 37point turn because it’s a no-through carpark.

The ACT Gov came to the BCC well over a year ago to present plans for resuming bushland and turning it into carpark. It was a contentious evening with some residents feeling that you cant just take public land, and especially bushland, and turn it into even more carpark. Other options discussed were a multi storey carpark built on calvarys existing site. I’m amazed that several years later, it still hasn’t been built. I’m also not sure why we the ratepayer are paying for a private entities staff carpark, and surrendering public space at no cost.

Calvary is on a major bus route with dozens of buses an hour. There is no need for the masses of ad-hoc gravel parking in Calvary.

I agree that parking at Calvary is s***, but clearly Mr Coe doesn’t know that Calvary Hospital is a private hospital that provides public services on contract. So any parking issues clearly belong to the hospital and not the Government.

Also unless I am mistaken Calvary have plans for a multi story car park.

This is up there with the No Smoking rule on hospital grounds………there’s nothing like having to walk through a group of smokers when entering the hospital (or shops for that matter).

Maybe the church should chuck in some funds for a carpark from all their tax free earnings?

“If these reports are true and not horrendously exaggerated”

These reports are indeed true and not horrendously exaggerated. I’m not a big user of Calvary (touch wood), but when I had to visit there a month or so ago, I was gobsmacked at the absence of available parking.

Woden Valley got its whizz-bang multi-storey carpark … surely Calvary isn’t far behind?

basketcase said :

I took the bus for a 10am booking one day, then 9am the next.

Got off at Haydon Dr and on my way up to Calvary Clinic, I could not help but observe the hopelessness of parking and wondered how the truly infirm got on.

There are a couple of bus stops on Mary Potter Dr, but wonder if a third outside the Calvary Clinic (and emergency department) would help for the Route 3 and 73 users.

Would $2.00 an hour parking fee fix the problem?

There was paid parking in place for about 6 months? or so. And then people complained about having to pay for parking, there was an election coming up, so the pay machines got removed quickly, leaving behind the concrete slabs they were placed on. Net result, minus about 8 parking spaces.

I took the bus for a 10am booking one day, then 9am the next.

Got off at Haydon Dr and on my way up to Calvary Clinic, I could not help but observe the hopelessness of parking and wondered how the truly infirm got on.

There are a couple of bus stops on Mary Potter Dr, but wonder if a third outside the Calvary Clinic (and emergency department) would help for the Route 3 and 73 users.

Would $2.00 an hour parking fee fix the problem?

TP 3000 said :

Alternative solutions to this problem include:
1-Arriving earlier to find a spot.
2-Bumming a lift
3-Parking at Belconnen or CIT Bruce & catching the bus. With those who can easily walk catching the Blue Rapid. Or less mobile people catching a 3/73/74 to right out the front.

Been there done that.

I arrive almost 20minutes before my appointment time because i knew parking was bad.

It took me 20minutes to find a carpark up a dirt embankment, (veteran’s trail i think) and then it took me another 10mins to walk to my appointment.

Luckily they were running late.

Alternative solutions to this problem include:
1-Arriving earlier to find a spot.
2-Bumming a lift
3-Parking at Belconnen or CIT Bruce & catching the bus. With those who can easily walk catching the Blue Rapid. Or less mobile people catching a 3/73/74 to right out the front.

Those too frail to walk on an unpaved car park really need to have disabled stickers.

Of course they’d need to find a spot not taken by a self-entitled Liberal Party politician which seems to be increasingly rare.

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