Page 3447 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 22 August 2018
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their local shops. Lack of parking is one issue that came up frequently, but so was the fact that parking infringements were not being monitored or enforced.
Shopkeepers rely on a revolving door of customers. People who park at the short-term spots at their local shops all day because their workplace is nearby are depriving local shopkeepers of many customers who drive in, circle for a car park and then leave when they cannot find one. The design and layout of parking spaces and the lack of road maintenance leading into and out of the shops are issues of more than inconvenience. They are issues of safety.
The Yarralumla Residents Association and locals have said for quite some time now that the design of the parking on Bentham Street is a risk to safety. The feedback I get is that Bentham Street must be the only street at local shops to be both a parking lot and a main thoroughfare. Given the perpendicular parking design, most people will park front to kerb. There is a real risk that cars on both sides will reverse out at the same time and may reverse into each other.
When doorknocking, I have had many residents tell me about witnessing small prangs and near misses arising from exactly this situation and that it is only a matter of time before they see a big accident. As one resident told me:
Parking is so difficult and hazardous that sometimes, if I need more than I can carry, I will drive to Curtin to shop rather than attempt to shop at Yarralumla.
Another Yarralumla resident told me:
There is a serious shortage of parking which will be exacerbated when the Canberra Brickworks development is completed. The YRA and individual residents have made representations on many occasions to the government with minimal result. For a suburb paying the rates which we pay, the level of expenditure on maintenance and infrastructure is well below expectations. The quality of our local government is incredibly disappointing.
Of course, parking issues are not limited to Yarralumla shops. A Deakin resident told me:
The car park in Hannah Place is not a park and ride, but the proximity to Parliament House and the Barton offices makes it one.
Narrabundah residents are also fed up with issues of parking. One resident tells me:
There is often no parking available for anyone who needs to shop at supermarket, chemist, bakery, newsagent, et cetera, of a weekday between midday and 2 pm or even later. The parked cars tend to spill over into adjoining streets that can be too narrow for cars to park on both sides of the road.
A Campbell resident asks the government to:
Develop the rear car park to better provide for car parking and to improve safety around the existing shops, goods receipts and administration areas.
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