Owen slams parking deficit

By Paul Dunlop
CARDINIA councillor Brett Owen wants a stop to cutting corners on car parks.
Cr Owen on Monday voted against plans for a shopping complex in Heritage Springs because he was concerned there were not enough car parking spaces.
Cr Owen opposed council supporting a development that proposed at least 150 parking spaces fewer than recommended in the shire’s planning scheme.
Under shire regulations, the shopping complex and childcare centre should have had 412 car spaces but only 266 were required.
A traffic consultant’s assessment said that number would more than meet demand. The original proposal was for 259 spaces but this increased by seven at council’s request.
Cr Owen said it was still not enough. “I don’t understand why we keep accepting lower car parking spaces,” he said.
“Council should start looking at this issue. We need to stand up and say we won’t tolerate this.
“I’m not against the proposal, I think it’s fantastic, but I’m voting against it because I’m very concerned about the car parking issue.
Cr Owen said he would have liked at least 300 car parking spaces.
Cr Bill Pearson empathised with his colleague but said the decision was in line with council policy.
Cardinia’s planning scheme requires eight car parking spaces for every hundred square metres of floor area in a shopping centre, but council can reduce this ratio if it believes parking is adequate.
Council has also increasingly based car parking decisions on the recommendations of its Pakenham town centre urban design framework.
The framework recommends around four to six spaces for every hundred square metres of floor area.
Cr Hamilton said the Heritage Springs proposal matched parking ratios in other areas of Pakenham.
Cr Ed Chatwin acknowledged the decision looked as if council was “giving away the estate”, but maintained this was not the case.
He said the eight car parking spaces per hundred square metres ratio had been found to be in excess of demand. Most shopping centres in Melbourne had much lower ratios, he said.
“It’s not really councillors giving way to developers. The criteria is not borne out by fact,” Cr Chatwin said.