It’s good that the conversation has started about the parking issues that Merimbula faces but it would have been even better if it started a little earlier.
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It’s a slow train coming down the track, it’s heading our way, not just lack of parking spaces but less than we have right now.
There are questions about how the town will cope over the busy holiday period and concern that with the closure of the car park opposite Woolworths, many people will go to Tura Beach for their regular shopping.
These are important questions but it’s possible that with the re-introduction of places behind the pizza shop and at the old library site and use of the Club Sapphire car park, we may be able to muddle through this coming season.
That’s the immediate problem dealt with but with all the work and development that is about to take place in the local area, isn’t time we took a more strategic approach.
In a way it is irrelevant how many car parking places we’re supposed to have. We know that whatever the number is and however many we actually have – it just isn’t sufficient and we’re about to lose the new temporary car parking places between Wonga Street and Kyeamba Street once the next phase of the bypass gets underway.
So how do we want to deal with car parking in the longer term and what areas should we allocate for parking? The one thing we all have to get over is wanting to park outside the shop we’re visiting.
There has in the past been talk of pedestrianising Market Street. Maybe it’s time to look at pay as you go hire bikes positioned at the boat ramp and also the top end of town especially during the summer. This might even work as a stop gap this season.
If we want to allocate areas for parking, what of Robert Green’s ideas for the Palmer Lane area that might allow a second deck over the current level parking area. Unfortunately this would only work if Park Street wasn’t designated to run through to Palmer Lane to allow access to the back of the Market Street shops for semi-trailers.
What about the ratepayers association’s suggestion of using the old library site for parking. Is that visually acceptable for such a prominent site in town?
If all the developments lined up for the area come to fruition, Merimbula can only get busier. Let’s make sure that whatever decisions are made with respect to our long-term car parking needs we keep in mind that it is a beautiful area and we want to keep it that way.
