Beach parking millions in bank Gold Coast Publications Pty Ltd 12Feb07
MILLIONS of dollars allocated to fix the Gold Coast's parking woes are sitting idle in a city hall kitty because of the lack of land available for public car parks.
Developers have beaten the council to much of the land along the city's coastal suburbs and have opted to pay penalties on their building applications instead of providing public spaces.
In Broadbeach, about $700,000 sits unused, while Surfers Paradise and Main Beach are believed to have millions of unused funds unspent.
Cr Eddy Sarroff and Broadbeach Chamber of Commerce president Don Jones said it was time to stop 'trading off' parking requirements for new buildings.
Cr Sarroff wants to buy public spaces in future developments using the war chest of developer contributions.
"My first preference is creating more car spaces at street level and I have a plan for more angled parking in Surf Parade, Margaret Avenue and down at Kurrawa Park for that," he said.
"But maybe with some of these car park contributions that we can't spend because there isn't enough land, we should purchase spaces for car parks within new developments.
"I have $700,000 in my division to use.
"The current approach for developers is to relax the car parking and pay the contribution. That's not helping us."
The former city finance boss believed several large contributions in lieu of public parking had been made throughout the city, including a single $1.3 million contribution in Surfers Paradise in the mid-1990s.
Cr Sarroff and the chamber have called a public forum into parking at Broadbeach to be held at the Kurrawa Surf Life Saving Club at 5.30pm today.
Mr Jones said traders in Broadbeach -- the southern anchor for the first stage of the proposed rapid-transit system -- wondered where parking for commuters would come from when the transport scheme started in 2011.
"The council has earmarked about $100 million for adjunct works to the rapid transit system," he said.
"But the reality is, if you're going to get the people to use it, you have to provide them somewhere to leave their cars, otherwise it'll only be for people who can walk to a (route) stop."
Mr Jones said the council had to revisit its approach to allowing developers to pay contributions in lieu of public spaces.
"It might have been OK in the past to offer that to stimulate development, but now space is at a premium."
Cr Sarroff said talks needed to be held with management at Pacific Fair and the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre when the rapid transit system started, to explore a park-and-ride facility.
Next month, Thakral Holdings, owner of the Oasis Shopping Centre at Broadbeach, is expected to introduce parking rates under a scheme similar to that operating in Australia Fair.