Wagga council’s transport blueprint for the future has flown in the face of residents’ and retailers’ opinions by concluding Wagga has too many car parks.
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The $240,000 Integrated Transport Strategy was released on Wednesday ahead of Monday night’s meeting, confirming speculation the document was light on solutions to present-day problems.
The report found “Wagga obviously has a significant oversupply of parking” and “there is nothing more symptomatic of a town under-performing than if a patron can drive to the town centre, park adjacent or very close to their destination” and drive off with minimum fuss.
The report’s author claims retailers do better trade when “people park on the fringe of the the (city) centre and walk around to get to their destinations” because “people spend longer in the centre and they then of course spend more money”.
Scribbles café owner Denise Flack described the author’s findings as “the biggest load of rubbish”, claiming parking paralysis in Fitzmaurice Street was keeping customers away, not drawing them in.
“I categorically refute the suggestion Wagga has too much parking,” she said.
“I suggest whoever wrote that report come down to Fitzmaurice Street between 10am and 3pm; I can guarantee they won’t be able to.
“If my customers can’t get a park they drive straight through, especially with the complete oversupply of cafés and coffee shops.
“If they can't get in the main street, they go the malls with car parks.”
The report recommends scrapping the longstanding rule requiring property developers to build car parks with every new building.
“Simply ripping out parking is unproductive… the best way to improve the ratio of parking in the (CBD) is to reduce the amount that gets supplied as the city continues to redevelop,” the report said.
“The slow reduction in parking supply increases pedestrian activity and hence the economic sustainability of the city.”
It’s also suggested installing parking meters on presently free on-street spaces to encourage “the private sector to provide more parking”.
Latest statistics suggest 71 per cent of Wagga households have one or two motor vehicles and car ownership increased between 2006 and 2011.
The majority of jobs are in the CBD, with a very high reliance on car travel to work.