Manuka Oval ... not so brilliant.

Manuka Oval … brilliant.

Dropped into Civic by my lovely daughter, took the bus in. Despite being full of the lower classes it wasn’t an unpleasant journey. Had a fantastic day at a great cricket match, Windies were as good as could be expected, some brilliant catches. Watson was outstanding. Drank more than a few beers (weak Aussie mid strength unfortunately.)

Was rather dismayed by the tuneless vacuity of the interval entertainment. The fireworks were rather good. Caught a bus back into Civic, and was picked up by my daughter.

A lovely day out at a very good cricket ground, made me glad to live in Canberra, let’s hope we get many more such class matches.

Boo Hoo….talk about ‘first world problems’ – (cue eyeroll) – plenty of parking at manuka shops, kingston oval or leave your car at civic/woden and catch a bus in as suggested….its a sign that your life is pretty comfortable when you have a whinge about something like this.

Lots of unhappy people whinging about the grey ghosts on the Canberra Times website . suckos to them! 🙂

I arrived late so I parked at Kingston Oval where there were a heap of spots still left. That extra 7 minutes walk each way was well worth $80 or whatever a parking ticket costs.

Looks like the grey ghosts had another productive day in the inner south, if the snippet on WIN News last night is anything to go by.

muscledude_oz said :

.. to get to the beachside gym to work out and be photographed by Japanese tourists 🙂

Photo caption…painstakingly translated… :

Koalas are bigger and thicker than I thought!

Gungahlin Al said :

As this seems to be the place to connect with people who simply have to use a car for everything, the Arboretum has tweeted today that if you intend going to their opening day THERE IS NO ONSITE PUBLIC CAR PARKING.
But lots of free buses from all over, including from Bruce stadium for northsiders.
Righto. See you there maybe. On foot.

No such thing as a free bus.

Tnut said :

Holden Caulfield said :

Well it appears I was lucky then. I parked in a legal spot near the school, but noted as I was walking towards the oval it was only a 15 min space. I was expecting a fine when I got back after the game, but lucky me, I was spared.

The Manuka oval website states that parking time restrictions are relaxed on major event days and includes a map of the area affected. I know of people who parked on grass areas in preference thinking that the time restriction would result in a fine.

That’s good to know, thank you.

c_c™ said :

There are two multi-level carparks in Manuka. Where they really full? I think not.

Do you have to walk 5mins, sure.

They were far from full. i had to go to manuka to the bank and forgot the cricket was on. Went into the car park and there were heaps of spots.

So rather than pay for convenient parking the option was still to illegally park to cut that walk down by 50metres.

As this seems to be the place to connect with people who simply have to use a car for everything, the Arboretum has tweeted today that if you intend going to their opening day THERE IS NO ONSITE PUBLIC CAR PARKING.
But lots of free buses from all over, including from Bruce stadium for northsiders.
Righto. See you there maybe. On foot.

Holden Caulfield said :

Well it appears I was lucky then. I parked in a legal spot near the school, but noted as I was walking towards the oval it was only a 15 min space. I was expecting a fine when I got back after the game, but lucky me, I was spared.

The Manuka oval website states that parking time restrictions are relaxed on major event days and includes a map of the area affected. I know of people who parked on grass areas in preference thinking that the time restriction would result in a fine.

dungfungus said :

I have never attended an event at Manuka Oval. I don’t follow any of the sporting codes that use it and I think I would be in the majority after a poor crowd that turned out to watch the cricket match on Tuesday. I have always thought of it as a quaint precinct but with limited potential due to it being landlocked and there being no provision for parking. Certainly, the cost of installing the 6 floodlight towers was not justified. We already pay huge amounts of ratepayers’ money to attract AFL teams to play on the turf there, a decision that has mystified me and a lot of ACT residents.
I was at the Manuka Theatre on Monday night to see Argo (great movie BTW) and while waiting in the foyer I looked at the light towers and thought how much out of place they looked. They remind me of giant fly swatters and they would be better sited in the NGA sculpture garden.
If anyone from the Manuka Theatre is reading this take note that the area between the stairs and the windows is disgustingly filthy with garbage and discarded building materials caught on ledges under the stairs.

What mystifies me is how often I read people saying ‘I never have attended an AFL or cricket match at Manuka Oval but in my imagination of an event I didn’t go to, the crowds were small’. Just to clear it up for everyone that doesn’t go to AFL or cricket matches, the crowds are usually quite big and close to sell outs if not sell outs like the ODI game next week. The fact people are talking about how difficult it is to find a park might give you a big clue about this.

AndrewW said :

Hey muscledude_oz, do you ever run into Roundhead89 during your visits to the beachside gym?

Nah, but they both get their steroids from the same bloke. 😀

davo101 said :

dungfungus said :

If anyone from the Manuka Theatre is reading this take note that the area between the stairs and the windows is disgustingly filthy with garbage and discarded building materials caught on ledges under the stairs.

Has the inter-tubes made us all brain dead? If you think the theatre is dirty and needs a clean then perhaps you should let them know directly.

I’m pretty sure Dungfungus was brain dead long before the inter-tubes were invented.

muscledude_oz said :

Roundhead89 said :

This sort of thing is a killer for tourism. I remember going to Bondi Beach in the 1990s and always getting the souvenir of Sydney under my wipers when I returned. I just stopped going there.

Indeed, no-one goes to Bondi any more. The beach is positively empty.

Actually getting to Bondi Beach from the city is now a breeze thanks to the express, limited stop service in a bendy bus. Sound familiar? They’ve even pinched the old route number our Intertown service used to have – 333. Makes it easy to get to the beachside gym to work out and be photographed by Japanese tourists 🙂

Hey muscledude_oz, do you ever run into Roundhead89 during your visits to the beachside gym?

dungfungus said :

I have never attended an event at Manuka Oval. I don’t follow any of the sporting codes that use it and I think I would be in the majority after a poor crowd that turned out to watch the cricket match on Tuesday. I have always thought of it as a quaint precinct but with limited potential due to it being landlocked and there being no provision for parking. Certainly, the cost of installing the 6 floodlight towers was not justified. We already pay huge amounts of ratepayers’ money to attract AFL teams to play on the turf there, a decision that has mystified me and a lot of ACT residents.
I was at the Manuka Theatre on Monday night to see Argo (great movie BTW) and while waiting in the foyer I looked at the light towers and thought how much out of place they looked. They remind me of giant fly swatters and they would be better sited in the NGA sculpture garden.
If anyone from the Manuka Theatre is reading this take note that the area between the stairs and the windows is disgustingly filthy with garbage and discarded building materials caught on ledges under the stairs.

long way to say “you like movies, while others like cricket”

Got to admit, mid-strength beer is pretty poor.

Has the ACT government decided that we’re too f***ing stupid to make up our minds about whether we drink light, mids or standards?

It would seem so…

Pretty much all sporting events and even festivals have gone mid strength now. And you’ll note that they haven’t had the decency to reduce the price to a realistic level either.

More profit for organisers whilst hiding behind a community safety argument, It’s complete crap.

*Insert whinge about the nanny state here*

dungfungus said :

I have never attended an event at Manuka Oval. I don’t follow any of the sporting codes that use it and I think I would be in the majority after a poor crowd that turned out to watch the cricket match on Tuesday…

The official crowd figure was 9500, for what equates to a pre-season warm up match. Not too shabby. I expect the ODI next week will be comfortably over 10,000.

Not sure what the official capacity is for cricket matches, but I reckon it’d be 13,000 or so. That would mean the PMs XI crowd had the ground at almost 75% capacity.

Poor crowds at sporting events certainly aren’t consigned to Manuka Oval. We’ve got Katie’s nice green turf and restrictive rectangular stadium out in Bruce to point the finger at as well.

dungfungus said :

If anyone from the Manuka Theatre is reading this take note that the area between the stairs and the windows is disgustingly filthy with garbage and discarded building materials caught on ledges under the stairs.

Has the inter-tubes made us all brain dead? If you think the theatre is dirty and needs a clean then perhaps you should let them know directly.

I have never attended an event at Manuka Oval. I don’t follow any of the sporting codes that use it and I think I would be in the majority after a poor crowd that turned out to watch the cricket match on Tuesday. I have always thought of it as a quaint precinct but with limited potential due to it being landlocked and there being no provision for parking. Certainly, the cost of installing the 6 floodlight towers was not justified. We already pay huge amounts of ratepayers’ money to attract AFL teams to play on the turf there, a decision that has mystified me and a lot of ACT residents.
I was at the Manuka Theatre on Monday night to see Argo (great movie BTW) and while waiting in the foyer I looked at the light towers and thought how much out of place they looked. They remind me of giant fly swatters and they would be better sited in the NGA sculpture garden.
If anyone from the Manuka Theatre is reading this take note that the area between the stairs and the windows is disgustingly filthy with garbage and discarded building materials caught on ledges under the stairs.

dungfungus said :

caf said :

I caught the free bus – it was perfectly pleasant.

There is no such thing as “a free bus”
No wonder ACTION’s revenues are stagnating.

You’re right, I had to promise to submit to the tyranny of government in order to board.

(I believe they were actually chartered by the event, so substitute “free” with “subsidised by all the other cricketgoers who didn’t use the bus” if you like).

There are two multi-level carparks in Manuka. Where they really full? I think not.

Do you have to walk 5mins, sure.

“Some of you wingers really need to realise just how good you’ve got it”

Ease up champ. Some of us are forwards, and the inference we are backs is quite offensive. Almost as offensive as calling us whingers

Terra said :

Some of you wingers really need to realise just how good you’ve got it. Have a look at anywhere else and you’ll find that simply driving your car everywhere just isnt an option.

Wake up to yourselves. Go spend a week trying to drive your precious SUV’s around any other city this size anywhere in the world and then ask yourself what we really have to complain about.

Spoilt bloody Canberrans.

Yeah I hate to break it to you, but commuting via car is pretty much the norm for ‘cities this size’.
We are not Sydney, Melbourne, London, Tokyo, or New York. This is a ‘city’ of ~350,000.
It’s not a metropolis, yet last I checked parking was actually slightly cheaper in the Adelaide CBD than here, despite it being more than twice the size.

vg said :

Roundhead89 said :

This sort of thing is a killer for tourism. I remember going to Bondi Beach in the 1990s and always getting the souvenir of Sydney under my wipers when I returned. I just stopped going there.

Indeed, no-one goes to Bondi any more. The beach is positively empty.

Sorry, YOU don’t go to Bondi anymore. Call Oz Tourism

Actually getting to Bondi Beach from the city is now a breeze thanks to the express, limited stop service in a bendy bus. Sound familiar? They’ve even pinched the old route number our Intertown service used to have – 333. Makes it easy to get to the beachside gym to work out and be photographed by Japanese tourists 🙂

caf said :

I caught the free bus – it was perfectly pleasant.

There is no such thing as “a free bus”
No wonder ACTION’s revenues are stagnating.

ORS has stated that 173 parking fines were issued. Illegal parking, e.g. the Canberra Ave median strip must be stopped. Access to & from Manuka Oval for these events should be via efficient park & ride services from more sites e.g. Mitchell & Mawson.

The police could control bus priority traffic after the game so that car users see that bussing is the way to go.

Consistent enforcement of illegal car parking together with good bus access, well publicised, should ensure Manuka Oval is utilised to the maximum.

Roundhead89 said :

This sort of thing is a killer for tourism. I remember going to Bondi Beach in the 1990s and always getting the souvenir of Sydney under my wipers when I returned. I just stopped going there.

Indeed, no-one goes to Bondi any more. The beach is positively empty.

Sorry, YOU don’t go to Bondi anymore. Call Oz Tourism

I caught the free bus – it was perfectly pleasant.

Postalgeek said :

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

Well played!

Roundhead89 said :

This sort of thing is a killer for tourism. I remember going to Bondi Beach in the 1990s and always getting the souvenir of Sydney under my wipers when I returned. I just stopped going there.

so, not bothering to conform to the motor traffic act’s rules on parking, then? o, the pity [not].

chewy14 said :

Postalgeek said :

Let’s be honest – plenty of people can and do ride Action buses. And ride. And car pool. And walk. And Taxi.

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

I was at work in the morning before going to the cricket as were most of the people I was with. Would have taken me approximately 90 minutes to get to the ground if I caught a bus vs 15-20 mins driving.

Is it any suprise some people didn’t want to catch a bus? (Didn’t get a parking ticket either so that’s good).

Yeah, on a normal day. What were the actual times for chartered buses leaving the interchanges going straight to the venue without any stops? Not much more than your car.

Terra said :

Some of you wingers really need to realise just how good you’ve got it. Have a look at anywhere else and you’ll find that simply driving your car everywhere just isnt an option.

Wake up to yourselves. Go spend a week trying to drive your precious SUV’s around any other city this size anywhere in the world and then ask yourself what we really have to complain about.

Spoilt bloody Canberrans.

Canberra was built around the car, hence why we should be able to drive anywhere and everywhere. Public transport is crap. I parked across from Manuka Pool and didn’t get booked.

Some of you wingers really need to realise just how good you’ve got it. Have a look at anywhere else and you’ll find that simply driving your car everywhere just isnt an option.

Wake up to yourselves. Go spend a week trying to drive your precious SUV’s around any other city this size anywhere in the world and then ask yourself what we really have to complain about.

Spoilt bloody Canberrans.

Postalgeek said :

Let’s be honest – plenty of people can and do ride Action buses. And ride. And car pool. And walk. And Taxi.

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

I was at work in the morning before going to the cricket as were most of the people I was with. Would have taken me approximately 90 minutes to get to the ground if I caught a bus vs 15-20 mins driving.

Is it any suprise some people didn’t want to catch a bus? (Didn’t get a parking ticket either so that’s good).

What a great thread. I just love some of the whinging I see on this site!

I think the consensus here is that there are plenty of other options for getting to the game. Just none that involves less than a 30 metre walk other than parking illegally.

It would be interesting for the opposition to request an FOI in three months time seeking to find out how many people got out of paying the fine.

Do the crime, do the time. Pay up suckers and stop your bloody whinging.

This sort of thing is a killer for tourism. I remember going to Bondi Beach in the 1990s and always getting the souvenir of Sydney under my wipers when I returned. I just stopped going there.

JC said :

Postalgeek said :

Let’s be honest – plenty of people can and do ride Action buses. And ride. And car pool. And walk. And Taxi.

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

You do know what is being talked about don’t you? It isn’t the daily commute to work, where as you point out there are plenty of options, this is a sporting even that didn’t finish until around 10-10:30pm. Do you seriously expect people to car pool, walk or ride from Manuka at that time of night?

Absolutely it isn’t the daily commute to work. It’s a day off with no pressures to be anywhere urgently. Are you saying people are incapable of parking in Kingston and walk, or sharing a car, or a taxi, or getting a bus to a match?

“Do you seriously expect people to car pool, walk or ride from Manuka at that time of night?”

Yes, it was a beautiful night. Get off your fat blurter and move without vehicular assistance. It was a sporting event n’est ce pas?

Waaaah. People parked illegally and got booked. Cry me a river. Maybe next time they’ll park a few streets away and walk their fat lazy arses to the match.

Postalgeek said :

Let’s be honest – plenty of people can and do ride Action buses. And ride. And car pool. And walk. And Taxi.

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

You do know what is being talked about don’t you? It isn’t the daily commute to work, where as you point out there are plenty of options, this is a sporting even that didn’t finish until around 10-10:30pm. Do you seriously expect people to car pool, walk or ride from Manuka at that time of night?

Now if you had of just mentioned buses you may have been onto something. Action ran special buses from Woden and Civic and after the game to all the major town centres, so the answer would have been to park in the town centres and get the bus. Really at Manuka there is no other practical option as there is no space for massive carparks and parking cannot be a free for all, so really buses are the only answer.

Must admit never had a problem with Action for special events like this, even if there is parking it is normally a shit fight to get out. But like many you wouldn’t see me for dead on an Action bus for my daily commute, I value the 2-3 hours of my time EVERY DAY that getting the bus to work would take compared to the 50-60 minutes it tkaes driving. The difference, best case is an extra 230 hours per year with my wife and kids, worst case 460 hours. But yeah thats getting off topic.

It’s really not that difficult, if you don’t want a parking fine, then don’t park illegally.

As others have pointed out previously on this site, there is ample parking in Manuka literally 150 metres across the road, and more still at Kingston. There was also a free shuttle bus from Woden and Civic, and there are at least 6 different bus routes serving the area.

The people who can’t be arsed doing anything other than parking illegally at the front door, in spite of all the other options available, deserve to get a parking fine.

Similar to the parking inspectors going for it on Australia Day in and around Civic. I’m all for fining the kings of the world in their 4WDs who drive up the gutter and park outside of the carpark, right at the footbridge to Commonwealth Park. But geez, for everyone else parking properly and just trying to get the kids down to the park you’d think they could lay off it for 1 day.

The free buses to/from brumbies games are great. I imagine the buses for cricket would have been ok too…

Well it appears I was lucky then. I parked in a legal spot near the school, but noted as I was walking towards the oval it was only a 15 min space. I was expecting a fine when I got back after the game, but lucky me, I was spared.

Balthazar said :

I say well done to the parking inspectors. There should be more of it. Park illegally, you get fined and it doesn’t matter if it’s a special event or not.

Show the arrogant & ignorant morons no mercy.

+1

The same thing happened when Brisbane’s Lang Park got it’s massive upgrade. It was built with zero public carparking on site. Deliberately.

The Council put on stacks of bus and train services – all free with an event ticket. Still people drove and parked and got busted. Now no-one bothers with cars, and everyone uses public transport. And it is quite amazing to watch how quickly the venue and area clears.

I know it’s something that is damn near impossible for Canberra folk, but you have to learn to leave your car behind.

yes i saw all the parking fines when i was on my jog last night.

i am all for it. i am so sick of people clogging up the area with illegally parked cars – it makes it dangerous for those that live in the area to drive around and get out of their driveways

Let’s be honest – plenty of people can and do ride Action buses. And ride. And car pool. And walk. And Taxi.

Or is this a daily commuting thing where people have to drop off the kids first and have to get to meetings between overs?

Each fine should come with a “Like Canberra” t-shirt—the “I like Canberra, so I donate to general revenue” edition. Thanks guys.

http://the-riotact.com/your-chance-to-buy-a-like-canberra-t-shirt/89384

I say well done to the parking inspectors. There should be more of it. Park illegally, you get fined and it doesn’t matter if it’s a special event or not.

Show the arrogant & ignorant morons no mercy.