BARTON MP Nickolas Varvaris joined Oatley MP Mark Coure to announce more parking opportunities in the Kogarah CBD.
They said the TAFE-owned parking lot on the corner of Montgomery and Kensington streets would be open to the public on weekends and holidays from September.
At present the car park is closed on weekends and TAFE holidays.
"This is the first step to address parking shortages in the Kogarah CBD area and I thank TAFE NSW for working with Kogarah Council, Mark Coure and myself in making this happen," Mr Varvaris said.
"With growing businesses and visitors to the area, as well as infrastructure like St George Public and Private Hospitals servicing our community, it is important that extra parking spaces are available to those who need it."
He said Wilson Parking would be managing the parking lot with users paying by the hour when they exit.
Mr Coure said this was a welcome decision and a sign community needs were being addressed.
"While this won't be the only solution to the issue of parking in Kogarah, it is a critical step in the right direction for the St George community who utilise nearby retail shops and medical suites," Mr Coure said.
There was no mention of developing the space as a multi-storey car park.
MORE SPACES
TAFE holiday dates:
Monday, September 21 to Monday, October 5.
Monday, December 14 to Tuesday, December 31.
Casual weekend parking hours: 7am–1am.
Short stay plan 'a good start'
KOGARAH MP Chris Minns said the weekend and holiday holiday parking initiative was a good start ‘‘but not nearly enough’’.
‘‘We need a parking solution for Kogarah beyond a few hours on the weekend,’’ Mr Minns said.
‘‘We should stop the half solutions and fix the parking problem in Kogarah permanently.”
In October last year Labor made a state pre-election promise to create an extra 450 short-stay spaces in Kogarah.
Under the plan, the open air TAFE College car park would be handed to Kogarah Council on a 99-year lease and converted into a new multi-storey public car park.
Mr Minns said at the time that a chronic lack of parking within the Kogarah CBD was leading to a significant loss of trade for local businesses, while the council collected more than $1 million from parking fines.
‘‘Residents tell me they often have to circle for 30 minutes in order to shop or to attend a medical appointment.’’
Under the Labor proposal it was envisaged the car park would have seven levels, including a basement.
‘‘There would be 550 spaces all up, of which 90 on one level would be allocated to the TAFE college,’’ Mr Minns said.
‘‘My starting principle is that spaces would have to be used for short-stay parking of three hours or less.’’
Is this a good outcome for the community?
