Westfield have outraged the retail drones that inhabit their shopping arcologies with a massive hike of long stay parking prices at both Woden and Belconnen.
The first two hours are still free for the shoppers, but the 7 hour plus is up to a Sydney like $30. By comparison the normally piratical Canberra Centre is only charging $14.
With the age of those most effected there is of course a Facebook protest group.
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What’s Your opinion?
Westfield stings the workers
Not even in the slightest.
johnboy said :
Fair point johnboy but I’d be careful as I’m sure you are known as johno in real life!!!
Any place that loses half its name to end in an “o” is as bogan as it gets.
Me no fry said :
Mate there is nothing bogan about Belco. You must be mistaking the Gunny for bogan central.
p1 said :
Or a Lamborghini.
Get a motorbike, give the ticket to someone else who is about to leave so they don’t have to pay, then just ride past the boom on your way out.
When I worked in Westfield Belconnen a few years ago, I used to take a quick break every 1 hour & 50 minutes & exit & re-enter the carpark, therefore avoiding having to pay anything.
Luckily my boss was nice enough to let me do that.
So now the first two hours per day of each grunt-level retail employee with a car are now solely used for paying for that day’s parking?
For the privilege of going to work there, they get stung for having the job?
@Johnboy:
The verbs effect and affect are not interchangeable.
Who cares if they want to charge more, they cannot effectivly enforce it and sometimes it is just easier to drive throught the boom gate or over the gutter. You will find that the security carmeras in the carpark leave a lot to be desired and the “guards” are more often found in the food court.
It is awful that westfield charge their tennants rent according to their turnover.
I know it sounds steep, but $30 a day is about average for casual long-stay parking in most capital cities.
I would imagine that the fee hike is to discourage commuters from filling the carparks with the perhaps unintended consequence of hitting the retail workers – who in the most part would be looking at sacrificing the first two hours of each shift just to cover the cost of parking.
johnboy said :
If directed at me, yes, of course. I have nothing but sympathy for the people who work at these places – they have no choice but to be there. I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the notion that Westfield thinks it’s alright to charge workers $30 a day for the privilege of parking there to work there.
You are aware a lot of people work in them right?
Devil’s advocate:
Perhaps it’s to encourage store staff to find another way to work? The car park is pretty useless if it is filled with cars of shop owners / staff. Woden car parks seem to be regularly filled to the brim.
How many car spaces in Woden do you think would be taken by staff cars on any given day? 150 – 200?
Both the Westfields you mention sit on top of bus interchanges.
Why anyone would linger at either of these two soulless concrete temples to consumerism long enough to have to pay for parking is beyond me. I mean, it’s not as if it’s a pleasant experience. Belconnen Mall in particular is a dirty and chewing-gum encrusted bogan shrine of particular hideousness.
Parking fee’s in privately owned shopping centres have always amazed me… “Come to our centre, enjoy yourself, spend your money! But we don’t want you staying too long or spending too much money, or we’ll penalise you.”
I guess the thinking behind this rise is to force employees to seek public transport to and from work to keep spaces free for 2 hour shoppers.
Lucky both shopping centres are near interchanges… Belco and Woden Westfield employees will just have to spend an extra hour on their daily commute on Action Busses.