By Ewen McRae
Parking hotspots in Sunshine, St Albans and around train stations are set for a revamp under a proposed parking strategy before Brimbank council.
The council last week endorsed a Draft Parking Strategy for community consultation, with the aim of providing a co-ordinated approach to alleviating carparking stress.
Activity centre areas in Sunshine and St Albans are among the highest priority areas for attention.
Brimbank has a high reliance on car travel, with 54 per cent of households in the municipality having access to two or more cars – three per cent above the greater Melbourne average – according to data outlined in the strategy.
It states that private vehicles account for 76 per cent of work travel in Brimbank, compared to the Melbourne average of 64 per cent.
The strategy is also aimed at alleviating parking stress around train stations, with the most recent data showing 9700 people access Brimbank train stations on an average weekday, and most nearby carparks are full by 7am.
A push by the Brimbank Disability Network for more disabled parking across the municipality is expected to form a strong part of the final strategy. More paid parking areas in key locations is also being considered.
Cr Virginia Tachos encouraged residents to have their say on the strategy when consultation begins next month.
“Parking is a source of frustration and angst for our communities residents, businesses and visitors,” Cr Tachos said.
“Better managing existing carparking is extremely important and I encourage all rate payers to have their say on it.”
Cr John Hedditch also expressed support for the strategy.
“Parking is a very important part of our day-to-day living, and by heck we get a lot of people chewing our ear about it, and rightly so,” he said.
“This enables people to look at the strategic framework and think about it from their perspective and where they live and work … I look forward to seeing their contributions.”
