Tooronga Action Group >>>

TAG's Car Parking Submission to Panel Hearing—Aug 2006

Boroondara Planning Scheme Amendment C70, Tooronga Village

Presented by Sabina Robertson

Coles Myer overflow car park

pdf document download slides from this presentation (192k pdf)

Introduction

The provision for car parking is the subject of great concern to all local residents because of the potential for overspill into local and surrounding streets.

Objectives

References

Background

There are a number of background summaries and references that apply to the car parking policies contained in the various documents listed above. Save for the following policy provision, it is not our intention to repeat all those details here. The Panel, the proponent and the submitters are already familiar with them.

Policy

Local government provisions clearly state the obligations of developers to provide appropriate car park spaces.

The Particular provision Clause 52.06—Car parking as noted in Stockland's submission (Urban Context & Planning Report September 2005: Tooronga Village, 2005, p.68) lists the following:

Stockland Development Parking

  1. There is general agreement in the expert witness reports that sufficient car parking has been provided for the retail, office and residential development components.
  2. The Tooronga Action Group (TAG) believes the car parking rate for the office space component to be increased. This is because of the ease of access to the Tooronga area by car and the potential for more intensive staffing of office space. In our opinion this rate should be 4.0 spaces per 100 sq.m. which increases the car parking provision for the 3,800 sq.m of office from 133 spaces to 152 spaces.
  3. Residents to the east of the Stockland development are concerned about overflow parking from the proposed residential component of the Stockland development. The street widths of the established neighbourhood are particularly narrow, and on street parking is constrained. Likewise, through traffic is restricted.
  4. The Stockland development indicates that the minor access streets of the proposed development are to be 7.5 metres wide, curb-to-curb (Urban Design and Landscape Architecture Report, September 2005/April 2006, MDG landscape Architects). This should remain as a minimum street width in the proposed residential development areas in order to accommodate on-street parking.

Coles Myer Parking

  1. As the Panel is well aware, the community is very concerned at the shortfall of parking for the Coles Myer Headquarters building. The following is relevant:
  2. In the mid 1990s there were approximately 500 car parking bays marked on the lower brickworks site area.
  3. Early in the 2000s additional parking bays were gravelled and marked. There are now about 750 parking bays.
  4. Coles Myer has paved, gravelled, bay marked and installed lighting on that lower brickworks site area.
  5. By formally constructing, marking and lighting the area Coles Myer has implicitly conceded that 750+ car spaces above and beyond those in the building are required.
  6. On many occasions there are more than 750 cars parked there and rarely, if ever, less than 650 during the working day.
  7. TAG believes that there is a total shortfall of at least 400 car parking spaces generated by Coles Myer office staff over and above the 500 car parking spaces to be provided for Coles Myer by Stockland. The figure of 400 car parking spaces is derived from:
    1. 250 car spaces on the lower brickworks not being accommodated in the new 500 space car park;
    2. at least 120 car spaces in the Tooronga Village Shopping Centre parking area incorporating both the 114 space permit zone area and the 301 space general car park area (We understand that management of the Tooronga Village have provide 120 permits to Coles Myer office staff); and
    3. conservatively 30 car spaces in local streets.
  8. As a result, the shortfall of car parking spaces will force an overspill of cars into surrounding residential streets. This will require Boroondara Council to install parking restrictions in local streets within a minimum of 1km of the site. The intrusion of so many vehicles and the associated policing of restrictions will cause considerable inconvenience to local residents and significant costs to Council.
  9. It is acknowledged by TAG that Coles Myer is to implement a "Green Travel Plan" using a number of initiatives which it believes will reduce the overflow by 250 vehicles. One of the possible initiatives is to run shuttle buses to transport centres—the Camberwell and Caulfield railway stations. This proposal reinforces TAG's view that the site is inadequately serviced by public transport. We are of the firm opinion that employees will jealously defend the convenience and their right to drive to work. The "Green Travel Plan" and related commuter behaviour patterns has already been addressed more fully in our Traffic Submission.
  10. It is acknowledged that there is an agreement between Stockland and Coles Myer to provide for 500 car parking spaces on site for the Coles Myer Headquarters staff. This is a tacit acknowledgement that there is a need to provide overflow parking.
  11. We have been informed that the 500 car parking spaces will be provide free of charge to Coles Myer till 2016, whish is the expiry of their current lease. There is no legal or other guarantee that this arrangement will subsist following the tenancy of Coles Myer, even though the size of the building and modern work place practices necessitate a similar number of car parking spaces.
  12. It is acknowledged by TAG that there is a legal requirement for Coles Myer and Stockland to provide only 58 additional car spaces for use of the office complex staff (whether it is Coles Myer or a successor tenant).
  13. The overflow car parking has been a major source of irritation and concern to the local community. An agreement to solve the problem for all time is available at this, the Planning Scheme Amendment stage, and the Panel is urged to ensure that parking is the Planning Authority's responsibility and not subject to an agreement between two commercial companies.

Recommendations

  1. That the Planning Scheme Amendment includes a car parking provision rate for the office space component of 4.0 spaces per 100 sq.m.
  2. That the Planning Scheme Amendment includes the condition that residential street widths (curb to curb) are no less than 7.5 metres and will maximise the facilitation of on-street parking.
  3. That the Planning Scheme Amendment assigns the 500 space car park, provided for Coles Myer staff, to the Coles Myer Headquarters building.

pdf document download slides from this presentation (192k pdf)

^ top of page