Page 1858 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 2 May 2012
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complaints about design. It is unfortunate and ironic that where the government has been proactive there has ended up being a number of complaints. The complaints include a loss of disabled spaces to accommodate the new style, yellow-striped section and bollard, that the disabled parking spaces are just not wide enough to allow for wheelchairs and walking frames to be unloaded on the site and sometimes the bollards get in the way of the unloading space. This seems a particular problem when the parking spaces have to share unloading space with wheelchairs. The public simply does not know what the striped painted area means, and people park there, especially motorbikes anyway. There needs to be better signs. The bollards and the lamp posts are often located in obstructive positions. Fortunately, I note that in rolling out these new standards generally, there has not been a reduction in the number of disabled car parks.
Unfortunately, the government did not do enough consultation with disability groups before the standards were changed, and this is not somewhere where I would necessarily criticise the ACT government. Given it is a national standard, you would have thought that the consultation had been done properly and nationally. Unfortunately, we are in the position that being a proactive jurisdiction, we may have to alter the new parking spaces somewhat after review of the design.
The good news, of course, is that this should be a pretty cheap exercise. As I said earlier, the government scheduled works to upgrade all the 19 group and five town centres to provide sufficient space for the new design at a cost of only $165,000. So I imagine it will be equally as cheap to rectify any issues with the current poor design.
Given the feedback I have had since tabling this motion yesterday, I would urge a review of the parking spaces, with thorough consultation with ACT disability groups, to ensure the government is actually rolling out the right policy. My amended motion addresses that issue.
One of the other issues, of course, is enforcement. There is simply inadequate policing of non-authorised use of disabled parking spaces. Whenever the parking inspectors do a blitz on disability parking spots, there are always fines dealt out. There is certainly an idea among some members of the public that disability parking signage simply does not apply after hours. We know that is not true. People with a disability do sometimes go out after business hours. Hopefully they often go out after business hours. They still need car parking.
When the number of spaces for parking for people with disabilities is so restricted and already so high in demand, it is very important that we do our best to ensure that the right people are being given an opportunity to use these spots. It is also important that members of the public who regularly use these spots illegally understand there are consequences and, in fact, feel the consequences.
So, in summary, I would commend my motion to the Assembly. I have not had any feedback from the other parties as to what their views might be but while I was speaking I did notice that two pieces of paper turned up on my desk. Hopefully I will have an idea soon what their views are on this important subject where we really need to do better in Canberra. Car parking is part of our transport system, especially for disabled people. And we need to do it better than we are at present.
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