By Alesha Capone
Wyndham council has received a petition requesting that a section of the Woodville Shopping Centre carpark be reserved for a nearby special school and other visitors to use free-of-charge.
The council will respond to the petition, which contains 198 signatures, at a public meeting to be held on February 2022.
The petition was started by Barrie Hope, a local resident who works as a supervisor at the Warringa Park School crossing, last year.
Mr Hope said that school staff and parents have used a section of the shopping centre car park for decades, without any issues.
However he said that during 2021, the body corporate which owns the carpark barricaded entry to the site with temporary fencing and signs – which have since been removed – threatening to tow away vehicles not belonging to shopping centre customers.
School staff were informed they could park at the site if they paid $8 per day.
Mr Hope said school staff usually parked on the far left side of the carpark, leaving the area close to the shops free for truck deliveries, shoppers and visitors to an adjacent park.
The petition is asking for Wyndham council to intervene to keep this particular section of the carpark free for the school and customers to use, including if a development is proposed for the site.
The petition reads: “The owners of the land have made free parking available for the school use for over 30 years and the teachers and staff have reciprocated by supporting the shops over the years.
“The carpark owners now demand unacceptable parking fees from all-day parking school staff.
“If the school cannot use the car park, they will be forced to park on the surrounding streets creating parking problems for residents and more traffic congestion in the area.
“The parents of disabled children need a safe area to drop off their children and the car park is perfectly positioned for that purpose.”
The petition also states that any development proposal submitted to the council, which would lead to construction of buildings on the site, “should be carefully examined for the impact it may have on traffic flow in the area”.
“We the community believe a car park is only logical and community acceptable purpose for the land and seek council intervention to secure written agreement to maintain the status quo,” the document states.
Some of the Woodville traders last year had the petition in their stores for customers to sign.
