Shrine area may become Games car park By Peter Ker Commonwealth Games Reporter June 18, 2005 Parkland behind the Shrine of Remembrance could be the latest swathe of public open space to be commandeered for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Shrine area may become Games car park
By Peter Ker
Commonwealth Games Reporter
June 18, 2005
Parkland behind the Shrine of Remembrance could be the latest swathe of public open space to be commandeered for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
The State Government is considering using the land for parking for support vehicles and the cars of workers involved in nearby Games events next March.
But the proposal - which could lead to cars being parked within 150 metres of the Shrine - has come under fire from the State Opposition and a public land lobby group.
A spokesman for Games Minister Justin Madden said the Shrine plan was one of several parking options around the Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens.
Princes Park in Carlton and Yarra Park in East Melbourne have also been earmarked as likely car parks during the Games. Catani Gardens and several streets around St Kilda will be taken over for triathlon competition.
The area around the botanic gardens, the Alexandra Gardens and the Domain will host road cycling and will be the site of many cultural events during the Games.
The Age believes cars could be parked within 150 metres of the Shrine if the parking plan gets the go-ahead. However, the Government spokesman said parking cars around the Shrine was not the most likely of the options under consideration.
The chairman of the Shrine trustees, John Taylor, said he was satisfied there would be no damage to the Shrine. "Our main objective is to protect the Shrine," he said.
But Protectors of Public Lands spokeswoman Julianne Bell said the proposal was another example of the Government doing whatever it wanted under Commonwealth Games legislation. "I would have thought the area around the Shrine was sacrosanct" she said. "It's an insult to the war dead.
"The State Government confuses park with car park these days. Once parkland is alienated it's often never returned."
Opposition Games spokesman Gordon Rich-Phillips said parking at the Shrine should be a last option.
"I wouldn't have thought the Shrine would be the most appropriate place to establish overflow parking," he said.
"I would expect the Government to continue to explore an alternative site."