Page 1847 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 8 June 2016
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This government is committed to finding the right balance for pay parking in Phillip. We need to find a balance that discourages commuters to areas within the Woden town centre from using the free long-stay parking available within the Phillip business area, support local businesses in the Phillip business district by ensuring greater availability of short-stay parking spaces for customers and long-stay parking spaces for local workers, and encourage where possible more commuters to the Woden town centre and Phillip to use the very accessible public transport.
The Phillip business district is served well by public transport, being immediately adjacent to the blue rapid service. There is easy access from Athllon Drive to the Phillip precinct and during the week the 21 and 22 routes service the area. These routes are a loop service connecting Woden with the surrounding suburbs.
Since last year’s decision to expand pay parking in Phillip, officers from both the Environment and Planning Directorate and now the Territory and Municipal Services Directorate have been working with local businesses to determine the best mix of parking. In addition the Chief Minister, the minister for small business and I have all met with representatives from the precinct to discuss their needs.
We could not have consulted with businesses without putting forward a proposal to consult on, which we did, but I anticipate that the final outcome will be quite different and will reflect the feedback we have received, and continue to receive.
Since the ACT government put options forward for parking in the area, we have sent letters to all businesses in the area, received written feedback and held two drop-in information sessions for people to discuss the parking issues with our officials. I have also met with a number of business owners, including Mr Robert Issell, who represents a reasonable proportion of the Phillip Business Community, and a number of the motor traders, including Lennock Motors, which Mr Wall also referred to.
I have made it clear to these local traders that we are consulting to find the best balance of options for local businesses, their employees and customers on this issue. I reiterate that the final outcome will be quite different from the original proposal. We are now in the process of considering changes to our initial proposal based on the feedback we have received.
This is a completely legitimate form of consultation, and no changes will be made to parking arrangements in the Phillip precinct until we have fully consulted on this issue and found the right balance. This may mean that we do not make any changes until after 1 July.
When it comes to the consultation process, to date TAMS has received approximately 23 submissions representing small businesses, larger businesses and local community members who visit the precinct. During the current public consultation phase, the community and stakeholders have been advised that TAMS will present a revised scheme to them during the month of June. This revised scheme will be presented through the Phillip traders association representatives, and I will actively engage in this process.
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