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- 14 May 2004
Victoria Park Residential Parking Permits
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Page: 9100
Ms KRISTINA KENEALLY (Heffron) [12.16 p.m.]: I call on the Council of the City of Sydney to resolve a problem that residents in my electorate are experiencing. Victoria Park is a new, purpose-built Landcom development in the electorate of Heffron. Part of a grand plan for South Sydney, the 25-hectare Victoria Park in Zetland has a long and chequered history. Having been the site of a naval supply depot, a car manufacturing plant and a racecourse, it will be a model for successfully transforming overused and decaying inner-city precincts and will act as a catalyst for the development of the rest of the Green Square Town Centre. Up to 2,500 dwellings and 150,000 square metres of office and retail space will create a new, vibrant community in this part of inner Sydney.
However, residents in Victoria Park have been coping with a restrictive parking policy that—this is the irony—encourages them to reject public transport and drive their cars to work. The parking policy provides for unrestricted parking for 25 per cent of parking spaces and four-hour limited parking for the remainder, with no resident parking permits. Originally, unrestricted parking applied to only 10 per cent of parking spaces, but following a community meeting held in July last year we were able to achieve an increase to 25 per cent. Residents have told me that they are forced to drive their cars to work. They fear that if they park their cars on the street and use public transport they will be faced with an infringement notice when they arrive home. Indeed, a resident who works in Moore Park, across the road from Victoria Park, drives his car to work to avoid a fine.
The Council of the City of Sydney believes the parking policy is necessary to reduce reliance on private motor vehicles. The sad reality is that the policy simply encourages people to use their private vehicles. The council has advised me that the policy matches its parking policy for high-demand areas. Victoria Park is a lovely, new development, but it is hardly a high-demand area when compared with Glebe or Newtown. There are no restaurant strips, shops or theatres. Indeed, there is absolutely no reason for people to go to the area unless they live there or wish to visit someone who lives there. The residents I have spoken to, including Sally Camfield and Bill Coles, want a resident parking permit, and I support them in that aim. On 21 April I organised a community meeting, to which I invited the residents of Victoria Park, the Mayor of the City of Sydney, and representatives of Landcom and Waltcorp. The deputy mayor, John McInerney, attended the meeting on the mayor's behalf.
At the meeting the residents raised their concerns about the policy and stated clearly their desire for resident parking permits. As a result of the meeting the deputy mayor undertook that the Council of the City of Sydney would investigate a resident parking permit scheme, and he indicated that it would take approximately one month to do so. The deputy mayor also stated that the Council of the City of Sydney would cease issuing parking infringements pending council reaching a decision about resident parking permits. This is a welcome move. However, the council has not made a firm commitment to issue resident parking permits, and the one-month deadline is fast approaching. I note that in the past few weeks more than 85 residents have signed my petition to the Lord Mayor asking for a resident parking scheme. The Lord Mayor of Sydney has, in her other job as the honourable member for Bligh, put forward her views on private motor use in the inner city. I hope it is safe to assume that what she states as her policy as the honourable member for Bligh remains her policy as the Lord Mayor. On her web site she states:
While limiting car use is vital to reduce the serious traffic congestion, even people who primarily walk, cycle or use public transport find that they need a car for some of their employment, shopping or recreational needs …
Many residents in new apartments are not warned that Council does not provide on-street resident parking permits for new developments. With the DCP limiting parking spaces in new developments, it is inevitable that new residents will have cars but nowhere to park them.
That is exactly the situation faced by residents. A further demand on her web site states:
Council must explore options within its power, including:
flexible procedures for local needs …
more stringent parking requirements, such as shorter parking times for non-residents;
on street parking allocated solely for residents' cars in particularly difficult areas …
That is exactly what we are asking for. Her demands continue:
possible introduction of parking permits for residents' visitors
The honourable member for Bligh is now in charge of the Sydney city council; she can implement those things that she has previously called on the council to do. I ask the new Mayor of the City of Sydney to implement her own policies, recognise the unique nature of Victoria Park, acknowledge the needs of local residents and provide resident parking permits for people who live in Victoria Park.
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