Council given 7 days to agree to hand over its Jannali shopping centre car park or homes will go

The state government ultimatum was delivered to the council on Wednesday morning in a letter which rejected two alternative sites for a multi-storey commuter car park.

The alternative sites proposed by the council were along the Jannali Avenue and Oxley Avenue rail reservation and the eastern end of Mary Street, utilising council owned land and part of the road reserve.

The letter was written by Peter Church, Head of Rail Delivery Infrastructure and Place, Transport for NSW.

"As you know, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) has been trying to resolve the location of this car park with Council for over two years now," Mr Church wrote.

"It is unfortunate that to date the council has not been willing to provide a clear position on whether the existing council car park at Box Lane next to Jannali Station is an acceptable location.

"The NSW Government remains committed to delivering up to 200 additional commuter parking spaces at Jannali by the first half of 2023, as a permanent solution and within close proximity to the station.

"The NSW Government has also allocated additional funding towards the delivery of this project from the Infrastructure and Job Acceleration Fund.

"This fund was established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and is intended to be used for smaller, shovel-ready projects, injecting up to an additional 20,000 jobs back into the NSW workforce.

"When we met last week at Parliament House, TfNSW undertook to explore a number of additional potential locations for the CCP, in addition to the numerous options previously explored.

"By way of update, please find below the outcomes of our analysis of these additional options:

"1. Options involving construction of a MSCP (multi storey car park) along the Jannali Avenue and Oxley Avenue rail reservation.

"TfNSW is unable to progress these options due to the encroachment into future rail augmentation scope under the More Trains More Services Program.

"2. A MSCP at the east-end of Mary St, utilising council owned land and part of the road reserve. TfNSW is unable to progress this option as it will require a tall MSCP and inefficient layout (approximately 6 levels and 18m high), causing significant overshadowing and amenity issues for the neighbouring residences and businesses.

"This option may require acquisition of up to four residential properties to mitigate these impacts and/or achieve a more functional layout.

"This option will also require relocation of the Jannali Community Centre and other community services, and the closure of Mary St, thereby causing further disruption for adjoining residences and businesses.

"After careful consideration and assessment of the suggestions noted above, TfNSW seeks council's commitment within the next seven days to allow TfNSW to build a MSCP on council owned land at Box Lane in order to realise the full commitment of up to 200 spaces and to deliver this important outcome for the Jannali community by the first half of 2023."

The letter is in a similar vein to response to the Leader by Transport Minister Andrew Constance to the council's resolution on Monday night, requesting the government abandon the compulsory acquisition of homes.

Mr Constance said, "In light of the resolution, can the mayor confirm whether we can have that council car park?"

Miranda MP Eleni Petinos said, ""After attending the meeting with the minister and Council last week, I was disappointed to see no resolution last night.

"It was flagged in that meeting the council car park was the only option going forward.

"Council could be more helpful and help us resolve this problem quickly.

"It's been two years and they still don't have an answer."

A response is being sought from the council.

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