1 March 2007

Simon to screw up parking as social engineering exercise? Or just to make a buck?

| johnboy
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Hopefully with links to follow, Simon Corbll has been on the ABC announcing that he’s going to reduce the parking spaces available near where you work.

Doubtless this space will not be transformed into schools or parkland, but will rather go to his developer buddies.

Simon presents this as a responsible way of forcing you to use public transport or the pushbike (any bets Simon’s every brought a weeks shopping home on the back of his bicycle?). This is a good thing.

Funny that when it comes to providing a decent bus schedule Simon’s nowhere to be found. But when it comes to flogging off more public amenity he’s first out of the box.

UPDATED: Simon’s media release on his parking strategy is now online he wants more short stay parking for the consumers and the workers can lump it.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Simon has also announced a “sustainable transport contribution fund” by which developers can directly apply grease to the wheels of their planning approvals.

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Did anyone notice when they changed the parking in Civic to mainly short-term (I think near the assembly and courts?), that they didn’t have a corresponding reduction in parking charges? That is, we were forced to basically pay all-day parking fees for four hours of parking.

I can see more of this rort in the future.

Ingeegoodbee8:33 am 03 Mar 07

This reminds me of the situation that developed in Sydney in the 90’s. The State Governmnet was building the Harbour Tunnel to get more cars into the city and the Sydney City Council changed planning policy to limit the number of car-parks that could be built into new developments. Now days a permanent parking spot in the Sydney CBD can cost you $450 a week.

Don’t remember this policy being broadcast prior to the last election.

Absolute power corrupts?

If they want people to take a positive view of catching buses, they need to provide the bus services and THEN tell us we have no alternative but to use them.

It is bloody useless telling me to catch a bus when my suburb doesn’t have any to catch.

As it is, I walk 20 mins to the interchange on the one day per week that I don’t have a kids drop-off to do. But I can’t catch a bus home, because I’m pregnant and I’ll be damned if I’m walking 20 mins uphill at the end of a long working day.

This is one policy that our fearless leaders will have to ACTION – but the torpid state of public services don’t augur well. Another shambles.

State governments – sheesh!

I think you menat Simon, Louise

So Andy closes schools, telling parents its ok to drive their kids to school now — some closed schools had very high walk-to-school rates.

Then Simon tells us we should all be driving less to save the environment.

Just whose environment are they on about?

Corbell does have small kids I thought?

Parents Need Teddys8:55 am 02 Mar 07

Has anyone noticed that our lefty communist in the Assembly, Corbell, has been pandying to the developers of late.

Steveu – Corbell doesn’t have kids so he clearly couldn’t give a shit about yours… for that matter the entire Stanhope Government doesn’t seem to give a damn about the kids in this territory!

People will need to drive to work because if you have children, you inevitably have to drive them to school. Its not practical in alot of cases to leave kids on their own to catch a bus (they cant walk to school anymore thanx to the schools rationalisation). You pretty much alienate the overwhelming majroity of the community by stopping people from driving to work. To add to that, I refused to travel for over 2 hours every day on public transport when a round trip in the car takes 40 minutes, and parental responinsibilities makes this impossible. Wake up Simon, you stupid, ignorant wanker and stop throwing public money at your developer mates and pretending to do ‘the environment’ a favour.

The main 3xx buses out of woden to civic are so full from 730 to 9am, i don’t know how they could support more people now anyway.

Parking strategy?

If they haven’t already (and the probably did quite a while ago) this Government just jumped it’s very own shark

EMD, place Simon against the wall to bang against.

First they closed our local school, in a suburb with no buses. Then they designated our new local school to be two suburbs south, in the opposite direction to the flow of traffic, and made our local pre-school in a different suburb to the primary school. And now when I do arrive at a city destination after dropping off kids all over town, I’ll have to battle even longer for parking spaces.

Excuse me while I go bang my head against a brick wall.

Simon you gotta go.

He said that the land was too valuable for parking. Um that is government land that you can sell off right?

I dont see why the developers can get an out by not building as many car spaces (upto 50% under the current parking rules). It is not as if they are needing more land to build these car spots, they just dig a deeper hole.

Any one who takes a car into Civic to shop or work without a certainty of a spot to “store” their unused car must have rocks in their head and lots of spare time. Me, might have rocks in my head but little spare time. I ride a bike or put aside my biases about smelly poor people and catch a bus.
Of course, some investment in light rail would provide certainty.
Only one certainty here, Simon et al have stuffed up the planning big time.

VYBerlinaV8 now_with_added grunt5:09 pm 01 Mar 07

Private sector employees and contractors will almost all drive anyway because:
a) They charge back the cost of parking; and
b) Their employers/clients are not nearly so understanding as govco is for public servants as to when people show up for work.

I will NEVER catch a bus to work, because it’s completely impractical, and I get free parking in the city anyway (and don’t have to pay FBT).

i think i will run for office.

Parents Need Teddys4:56 pm 01 Mar 07

Don’t you people get it… Corbell and the Stanhope Government couldn’t give a shit, they have a majority Government and no one holds them accountable!

Unfortunately at the moment we have to wait until nearly the end of next year to do something about it – just make sure you all do!

IF they would put on a heap more busses and run them more often then maybe…

Reducing parking actually reduces opportunities for areas to grow if you think about it.

Meanwhile out here in Snowtown (aka Brindabella Park) they are building carparks hand over fist.

…and the phrase “developers may make discretionary financial contributions” has me dusting off and priming the Gatling gun.

whenever i hear the word sustainable i reach for my pistol.

establish a new funding method for parking provisions, which involves the development of a Sustainable Transport Contribution Fund by which developers may make discretionary financial contributions that can be used for a wide range of access-related infrastructure and services, including off-site parking, in lieu of a proportion of required on-site parking spaces.

Does this mean developers can chuck a few grand at ACTION and buy their way out of providing parking?

captainwhorebags4:19 pm 01 Mar 07

Okay, that worked like a lead balloon. Here’s the non-linked URL for a copy and paste:

http://www.chiefminister.act.gov.au/media.asp?media=2288&section=52&title=media&id=52

captainwhorebags4:16 pm 01 Mar 07

Here’s some info on the the media release.

if a light rail proposal had been anywhere near any of the local councils much hyped pt agenda, precinct plans, redevolpment proposals or any other attempt at town planning – then i’d maybe believe him.

but this fella has form.

people dont like buses.

bus routes have no certainty for passengers, developers or planners.

lightrail tracks indicate that building housing, factories, office blocks, schools etc – will be able to be used by people who wont need to drive there or to and from or live etc. and that the tracks cant be capriciously moved.

even his time travelling busway folly doesnt surface for publicity air anymore.

this govt has no credibility when it comes to public transport policy.

Gah! More folly!

I mean – Civic suddenly became utopia when the new Centre development wiped out most of the parking in the area. Why not apply that to the whole city!

Genius! Corbell for ruler of the world!

Simon doesn’t care as long as the development goes ahead.

On the bright side we won’t be able to complain about Canberra being over-planned for long.

i would love to be able to ride to work, but i live in belconnen and work in fyshwick and it would just take me too long to do that so i would end up being late for work, would get fired, end up on the dole and then vandalise buses to keep myself from going insane.

is that what Simon really wants?

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