Parking pain
Five down: Leongatha business-woman Shirleyanne Wright wants to know where the five carparks are going to be replaced.
ON the eve of the busy Christmas period, Leongatha traders are furious that five full-time parking spaces have been removed without consultation.
The five parking spaces on railway land behind Great Southern Outdoors, near Apex Park, were removed sometime last week according to the owner of Shan’s Lingerie, Shirleyanne Wright.
Mrs Wright took The Star to the location last week and showed this paper where “no standing” signs had been erected.
“This always used to be an area for five spaces. The shire changed it to two parallel spaces for some reason and now has removed the places all together,” Mrs Wright said.
“Apparently one of the new parking officers decided it was a good idea. There was absolutely no consultation with any businesses or the chamber of commerce as far as I know.”
What makes Mrs Wright all the more concerned, is she believed there was no need to remove the five places.
“A bit of a prune of the trees and bushes at the back of the park and a slight realignment and we would have our parks back,” she said.
“As far as I know there have been no accidents or concerns for any cars that use this area and the five parks that we’ve lost.”
Mrs Wright would like to see the places reinstated in time for the busy rush period.
South Gippsland Shire Council’s local laws co-ordinator Ian Nicholas said the car-parks had not been lost as they were not parking spaces to begin with.
“There have never been parking bays there. People have been parking illegally there,” Mr Nicholas said.
“Our engineering department advised us that those shouldn’t be designated parks for reasons of maneuverability.
“We said to engineering that the only way to enforce it was to put ‘no parking’ signs up so that is what was done.”
When The Star put it to Mrs Wright that there were never car-parks in that area, she said “that’s absolute garbage”.
“I have been parking in that area for 12 years and there’s always been parking there. You can still faintly see the paint marks on the parking bays; they just haven’t gone over it,” she said.
“If people entering the car-park can’t see someone backing out of those places, they shouldn’t be driving. The situation in the Safeway and IGA carparks is a lot more congested.”
Two roads enter the railway parking area from McCartin/Roughead streets and one could be an entry point and the other an exit if necessary, Mrs Wright said.
A number of other traders rang The Star last week to express similar concerns.
Mrs Wright believed council should put more thought into a strategy to not only retain all day parking spaces, but to improve on it.
A motion was moved by the Leongatha Chamber of Commerce and Industry to write a “please explain” letter about the decision.
Another area of concern to Leongatha businesses is the car-park at the back of Colliers Carpets, bordering Young Street.
Brian Collier, proprietor of Colliers Carpets, said he was concerned that regular bus trips cause some 20-30 car spaces to be lost each month, with those taking the coach trip parking in the all day areas.
“Why can’t the bus pick up from the recreation reserve? If those taking the trip need to drive to the coach anyway, they may as well park at the rec. where there’s plenty of room,” he said.
“On days when these trips take place you cannot get a park here, and there are cars everywhere.
“A lot of these places are not just for workers but local shoppers use these spaces also.
“The shire needs to get pro-active and start looking after us. The retailers are having a struggle and don’t need this coming into Christmas, generally our busiest time.”
The Star rang Wayne Harley of Harley’s Bus Lines in Korumburra and he said he was acting on instructions from the groups concerned, believed to be the Woorayl and Leongatha Probus clubs.
“When I do trips, about six a year, for the Leongatha Horticultural Society we leave from the Leongatha Recreation Reserve,” Mr Harley said.
“We do some of our own private trips out of Leongatha and have an arrangement to use the Masonic Hall carpark.”
Mr Harley said there was no reason he couldn’t use the recreation reserve for the Probus clubs, but that was really an issue for them to discuss.
Phil Carter from the Leongatha Probus Club told The Star he would discuss the situation with members at their next meeting.
“It is really up to the members to decide where it is most convenient to pick up. I know of a few that don’t own cars, who walk to the bus in Young Street. We don’t have that many excursions in a year,” he said.
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