Parking woes tackled Author: Reports by JASON GORDON Date: 19/05/2005 Publication: Newcastle Herald
NEWCASTLE City Council has decided to "put its money where its mouth is" and look at ways to relieve the city's parking woes.
But some city workers and business owners said yesterday that the effort was "just another Band-Aid solution".
Cr Marilyn Eade gained unanimous support from her colleagues on Tuesday night when she proposed that the council look at ways to fund the promotion of public transport "to relieve current and anticipated pressures on inner city parking".
The investigation would include a comprehensive survey of people who drive to work in the CBD "to identify why people aren't using public transport".
Under the plan the council will also consider:
? a program aimed at encouraging workers to "park and ride" into the city from its fringes, using public transport;
? spending more on street furniture, footpaths and bicycle racks; and
? promoting public transport to and from large-scale events and the inclusion of public transport costs in ticket prices.
Newcastle Lord Mayor John Tate applauded the initiative, saying "we need to embrace park and ride but we need to put our money where our mouth is".
The move follows a recent Herald investigation that found that securing a CBD parking space after 8.30am on weekdays had become almost impossible, with the council's two major parking stations usually full and most street parking within a one-kilometre radius of the city centre occupied.
City workers and business owners the Herald spoke to yesterday agreed that the council should be applauded for taking some action but said the planned measures would do little to help.
"I live at Gateshead and work in King Street," city worker Bruce McKinnon said. "I'm buggered if I'm going to drive to Charlestown and park the car and then catch a stinking bus into work from there.
"What they need to do is build a new parking station in the city or create new areas where the workers can park all day."
Poor access to public transport and a lack of suitable, safe cycle paths were among other concerns.