 Manly Council has effectively opened up the Manly 2015 Plan to developers at Monday night’s Council meeting by calling for proposals for the construction of a car park under the oval, and the long-term lease and development of the Whistler Street car park site. “After five years of deliberation and two wildly unpopular car park scenarios, the Council has suddenly decided to go out and ‘test the market’. All we know about the brief so far is that it contains the main elements that most Manly residents have opposed all along”, said Good for Manly Councillor Candy Bingham. “Long term lease of public land in Manly CBD, building an expensive car park in the wrong place and no further community consultation”. “Last week the Mayor (in her blog) announced that the majority of Councillors agreed to retro-fit Whistler Street and that a smaller car park under the oval was being explored. This week it’s back to the original plan. What a joke,” Clr Bingham said. Good For Manly is now calling for intervention by local MP and Premier Mike Baird. “We believe a moratorium is needed on high-debt, high-risk projects that councils are trying to rush through, ahead of possible amalgamations later this year. “ Clr Bingham explained. “The Oval car park has already being rejected twice by previous Councils as not viable and yet here we are now asking for interested parties to come up with ideas on how it could work,” she added. The council resolution to seek proposals from interested parties was an amendment lodged by Clrs. Steve Pickering and James Griffin. However the wording of the resolution has left many confused, with many people believing that in fact the Oval car park had been stopped. No so. (download copy below). In the meantime resident precinct groups and opponents to the oval car park plan are believed to be dusting off their protest T-Shirts to start fighting the car park proposal again. After two well-attended public meetings, a letter of concern from the Office of Local Government, a large protest march, hundreds of letters to the Manly Daily and thousands of signatures on petitions they are wondering just what it takes for the Council to actually listen to its community. No Oval Car Park - No Massive Debt 
9 Comments
Lesley mcLoghlin
12/3/2015 09:32:02 am
Why not proceed with renovation of Whistler Car park. Attention to safer parking spaces and ramps. Can another floor be added to provide more car spaces?
John D Wilson
12/3/2015 11:25:54 am
I would like to know who is pressuring the council to disregard the will of the electorate.
dirk nagel
12/3/2015 11:39:09 am
Yes, by allmeans start fromscratch but not one more cent is to be spent of consultnats wasting our money.
Skaidrite Roper
12/3/2015 11:41:11 am
The Council continues to ignore the views of the majority of those they purport to represent. Maybe the proposal of amalgamation of councils has some merit as the majority of residents views under the current Manly council are and continue to be ignored.
Jim Mitchell
14/3/2015 12:22:11 pm
Hi Candy
Russell Harrison
14/3/2015 04:59:04 pm
I disagree Jim. I suggest we dont need any more parking. The more car parks you build the more cars will come. The streets will always fill up first despite time restrictions and resident only parking. Non residents always seem to find access to permits. Once the streets are full, then they will resort to using the car park. The car park wont resolve the parking problem it will only exascerbate th crowding in Manly. Local business might support any proposal likely to bring more people into Manly and through their business doors. However, surely there is a point where enough is enough, where there is diminished enjoyment for locals because of crowding and the only beneficiaries are business. When the exisitng parking is full, its full. Why try and bring more cars in?
Jim Mitchell
20/5/2015 09:33:29 am
Yes Russell we need to find away to discourage non residents from using the streets and encouraging them to use the Council carparks first. One way would be parking meters in the Corso Precinct area at a higher price than CCP. A car park under the oval at the entrance to Manly would be very popular for visitors and people wanting to use the ferry.Lets hope the private sector can come up with a solution that doesn't expose rate payers to any financial risk and provides an income for better maintenance.
bruce
16/3/2015 12:42:29 pm
According to the Bitzios study commissioned by Manly Council only 28% of car parkers on a Thursday and 15 % of car parkers on a Saturday are Manly Council residents. The majority of car parkers avail themselves of the free parking( 85% of parkers on a Thursday and 74% on a Saturday do not pay for parking). Not much of a revenue stream to pay off the debt. A long way from risk free. and no new source of income. We should be charging non residents to use the car park but this is not what Manly Council is proposing. The end effect is residents paying off the debt so that non residents can park for free. Not very fair and equitable.
Brendan Condie
14/3/2015 07:11:33 pm
The Department of Local Government should be called upon to examine and make public to ratepayers Council's expenditure to date in relation to the "project" and all further financial projections. Leave a Reply. |
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. ........................................
View Videos
|
||
RSS Feed
|
Contact our team |
Site design by Manly Mac Art.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Northern Beaches and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
Authorised by Jonathan Trope, 1/90 Lauderdale Ave, Fairlight 2094