The Hillier View: Parking a crisis in our city

Just when I thought roads were the number one issue for Wyndham residents, last week’s column about parking has opened up a Pandora’s box of complaints, thoughts, opinions and suggestions from readers. Thank you for your input.

Our train stations certainly evoke the most passionate and angry responses. I’m told the Masters store at Williams Landing has engaged a security officer to stop rail commuters using its carpark. I couldn’t confirm this with Masters management before deadline but if they have, I don’t blame them. They’re running a hardware business not a carpark and customers deserve to be able to find a carpark to do their business.

One idea floated to me was to make the Werribee railway station a bus-only terminal, feeding commuters to and from a multi-level carpark a few kilometres away.

Great idea, but I’m not sure where that multi-level car park would be. The bottom end of Watton Street, near the swimming pool, seems to me to be an under-utilised space, as I have said before. If we had a multi-level carpark there and behind Ballan House and maybe even in Barnes Place, surely that would fix the problems for the CBD and the station.

One reader suggested Werribee Racing Club has land that could be of benefit, and I can see the validity of that, especially if a shuttle bus service was established.

What do you do with Hoppers Crossing and Laverton? I hear some residents around the Laverton station are making a tidy sum charging people to park their cars in their yards each day. Good luck to them, but that’s not the solution.

The most obvious thing to me is that there’s a crisis which is having a negative effect on living in our city.

This is where we need our leaders and representatives to take up the challenge. Don’t sit back. Get off your bums, cut through the red tape and give the residents something to remember you by.

As it stands, you’ll be remembered only as the mob that did nothing to fix traffic and parking problems.

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■ If you have any news or events, let me know at kevin@howdypartnersmedia. com.au