More than 500 residents have demanded that Brimbank council reinstate parking outside two doctors’ surgeries on a busy Sunshine street.
A petition with 530 signatures was handed to the council last week to rescind changes made to parking outside 68 and 96 McIntyre Road earlier this year.
It also called for the shops at 81-91 McIntyre Road to revert back to clearways for northbound afternoon-peak traffic and in the southbound morning peak times.
The council changed parking along the road, which takes around 30,000 cars daily between Berkshire and Ballarat roads, with the support of VicRoads and Victoria Police.
Lead petitioner Peter Thomson said the clearways had created a huge increase in speeding vehicles, while the lack of car spaces was killing businesses along the strip.
“The shops have also been impacted as vehicles can no longer stop there,” Mr Thomson said.
“We believe this is putting these businesses’ livelihood in jeopardy, which seems to go against council’s policy of encouraging small business. There is only limited parking at the rear [of the surgeries], which makes it hard for the elderly or people with disabilities, who have to park a fair distance away.
“The surgery at 96 [McIntyre], they’re lucky they have two or three spaces out the back, but it’s not enough by the time you get the staff in. And 68 have no backyard parking at all.”
Mr Thomson said petitioners did not want the clearway zone removed completely but wanted one-hour parking, except during the clearway times of 3.30pm to 6pm northbound and 6am to 9am, Monday to Friday, as it was previously.
He said there had been very little promotion of the changes.
“People have parked there for 30 years then they found out they had a ticket,” he said.
Council infrastructure and environment director Paul Younis said the parking ban would be reviewed.
