Building a smaller car park under Manly Oval is not the solution according to Cr Candy Bingham following another workshop by Councillors. "It's a typical example of a committee designing a horse", she said. Building a smaller car park under Manly Oval has emerged as the favoured option by councillors in a Manly 2015 workshop last weekend.
The good news is that councillors have recognised the value of the centrally-located Whistler St car park and agreed to retain it "indefinitely". They have also adopted Good For Manly's idea of refurbishing the car park building and converting its forecourt area into a pedestrian plaza. The car park will be retro-fitted with a new lift and fire stairs, and accessible parking spaces will be relocated nearby or on the first floor. The exterior will also be jazzed-up. However the majority of councillors remain wedded to the oval car park proposal, but half the size as previously proposed. The new proposal is for a car park with 460 spaces (down from 760 spaces), which would cost $30M. That works out to a massive $65,000 per car space. Good For Manly councillor Candy Bingham said building a smaller car park under the heritage oval made no financial or logistical sense. "The previous KPMG assessment of the viability of a new oval car park was on the basis that costs would be underwritten by the transfer of parking revenue from the Whistler St car park and the sale of the site," Cr Bingham said. "That no longer applies and the total cost of $30m would need to be borrowed." She called for a new parking demand study based on the changed scenario. Such a study should determine if the car park would function as anything other than an overflow car park, used only on days of heavy demand. It should also clarify the huge cost of such a facility. As well there are operating costs of $250,000 a year (based on comparable underground car parks) and debt payments of $1.8M a year (based on borrowing the entire $30m at an interest rate of 5%). The car park would therefore have to generate $2.050M a year just to cover costs. Cr Bingham said this is unlikely given that the debt-free Whistler St car park, which has 342 low-maintenance spaces in the heart of the CBD, makes a profit $1m a year. Major problems, including the distance of the oval from the beach and the CBD, and the expense of building a car park in a flood plain, remain. And there is now an additional difficulty. Building half a car park under half the oval means that water drainage will be dramatically different between the two halves. What that will do to the playing surface, or the cricket pitch, is anyone's guess. "The council retaining Whistler St car park is a good decision," Cr Bingham said. "But Good For Manly can not support spending $30M on a poorly-positioned car park when the need has not even been demonstrated."
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Councils across Sydney are fighting back against the State Government's push for mergers. In our area, the recommendation is for one super-sized Northern Beaches Council that would merge Manly, Warringah and Pittwater councils and stretch from Manly to Palm Beach – a coastline of 30kms. According to Good For Manly councillor Candy Bingham, Manly Council has already said it wants to remain as it is, and has cited its strong financial position as evidence of its ability to stand alone. The second preference would be to split the Northern Beaches area into two, using Warringah Rd as the boundary. This idea is supported by Pittwater council, but opposed by Warringah, which favours the full amalgamation approach. “Our stance to remain as we are is echoed by many metropolitian councils, including those on the North Shore and in the Inner West”, Clr Bingham said. Those councils are banding together to challenge the assumptions behind the merger recommendation. The recommendation, which comes from the Independent Local Government Review Panel, says that amalgamations are necessary to create "stronger and more effective" councils, with the emphasis on saving money on bureaucracy and administration. In response Lane Cove Council has voted to engage academic and financial consultants to assess the true financial results if mergers proceed. They are likely to be joined by Mosman, Ryde, North Sydney and Hunters Hill councils in a joint effort. The consultants will also consider alternatives to amalgamation, including joint council organisations, similar to the existing regional council groupings. As well five Inner West councils - Canada Bay, Ashfield, Burwood, Leichhardt and Marrickville - have agreed to undertake joint research on the economic and social impacts of amalgamation and to jointly fight any move to force them to merge. The government says NSW councils are collectively losing $1 million a day, with two-thirds of the councils running operating deficits. But metropolitan councils say the city experience is different. Research by the Northern Sydney Mayors' Group shows that metro councils had a combined operating surplus of more than $20 million last financial year. Manly itself is in a strong financial position, reporting an operating surplus of $4.6 million. Clr Bingham said there was no evidence that big councils were more financially efficient than small ones, and that mergers over too large an area would disenfranchise residents and "take the local out of local government". The state government has given councils until the end of June to present their "Fit for the Future" submissions, giving their preferred merger options or justifying why they are sustainable on their own. The submissions will be assessed by an "independent expert panel" by October. Have your say - complete our poll below. Desperately-needed changes are being made to parking in Kenneth Rd, next to the Manly Swim Centre. But some problems have still not been addressed. Parking at the swimming centre has been a hazardous activity since the pool's car park was closed to allow work to start on Manly Council's $19 M redevelopment of the site. That forced swimmers to park on busy Kenneth Rd, with the council putting in angle parking on the south (pool) side of the street to try to accommodate the increased demand. But mixing parking manoeuvres with fast-flowing traffic provoked fury from the community and criticism from the Roads and Maritime Services. Making things worse was the decision to make parking front, rather than rear to kerb, putting people in harm's way while they unloaded their car boots. After discussion between the RMS and the Council, several changes were presented to the Council's Traffic Committee in December. Angle parking will be changed to rear to kerb and the speed limit on Kenneth Rd decreased from 60 to 50 kph. As well the council will build a pedestrian refuge in the middle of the road, and a turning loop at the eastern (pool) end of Kenneth Rd. Two disabled driver car spaces will be put in, and the northern footpath widened. Kerbs on both sides of the road will be realigned, however the road carriageway will not be widened as a result. (Download file below for more detailed diagram of proposed changes). But Manly Independent Councillor Barbara Aird says people's safety is still at risk insisting that parking should not be allowed on the north side of Kenneth Rd. “Not only does it narrow the roadway, but it means swimmers - often mothers with kids and bags - need to cross the busy road. It's true that parking has always been permitted on that side of the road, but people were generally not parking there to go to the swimming pool. And if they were, they didn't have to contend with reverse parking manoeuvres, as well as through traffic”, Cr Aird explained. The overflow of parking demand is also now affecting residential streets nearby where once quiet back streets are now parked out . Locals have criticised the Council for poor planning and wasting rate payers' money with the Kenneth Road debacle – now in its third reconfiguration. Many believe that the latest plan still does not address many safety concerns raised. Are you a regular user of the pool or Kenneth Road? What do you think?
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AuthorCandy Bingham, Deputy Mayor & Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council. Background in marketing, public relations and community engagement. Author of five business books. Former Lady Mayoress of Sydney. Aka Candy Tymson. ........................................
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