Forty-four vital car parking spaces at Caringbah will be lost with the sudden closure tomorrow (December 1) of a large portion of the Banksia Road car park.
The front section of the car park, which is on land the council has leased from a private owner since 1982, will be fenced off to allow construction of a nine-storey apartment block.
Sutherland Shire mayor Carmelo Pesce said 123 car parking spaces would remain on the council-owned portion of the property.
Cr Pesce said the owner of the apartment block site had terminated the lease with the council.
However, as a result of negotiations which were finalised on Tuesday, public access for motorists to the council-owned car park portion would still be provided from Banksia Road, he said.
Motorists would be able to leave the car park through a one-way exit to Mackay Street.
Cr Pesce said he was surprised to learn the council did not own the entire Banksia Road car park.
“The lease was done 30-40 years ago, and I would have thought at some stage the council would have acquired the land,” he said.
Cr Pesce said the loss of 44 spaces was unfortunate, but there was nothing the council could do about it.
There would still be 123 spaces, with another 120 spaces in the nearby council-owned Hay Avenue car park.
Cr Pesce said Aldi’s plans to develop the Caringbah Marketplace site had not progressed since the council resolved in July to cease negotiations.
”They came to see me, but they haven’t put in a DA (development application),” he said.
Aldi and the council had not been able to agree on financial terms for a proposed multi-level car park on the present car park site.
