Community Consultation to Improve Parking in Fyshwick

Background

There is a heavy demand for both commercial and shopper parking in Fyshwick and at times parking overflows onto verges where no provision has been made. Sometimes unsafe situations arise as cars move in and out of parking spaces.

The Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS) is taking action to deal with these parking and traffic problems.

TAMS has appointed R.D. Gossip Pty Ltd Consulting Engineers to undertake a detailed study, together with stakeholders, to assess what is happening and to recommend improvements. This will include formalising current informal parking areas, where appropriate, as well as identifying possible additional parking.

How Will The Consultation Process Work?

A consultative committee has been established by TAMS, comprising of stakeholders and the local Fyshwick community. The committee is an opportunity to act as a representative for local businesses in Fyshwick. Members of the committee are gathering initial community feedback which is then passed on to the consultants. They are also involved in reviewing proposals and will relay information back to the Fyshwick community on the study’s details and progress.

Two consultative committee meetings have now been held. The first was on Thursday 8 November 2007 and the second meeting was held on Wednesday 12 March 2008.

Since the last meeting in March, consultants RD Gossip have been preparing the final report based on the findings conducted from on street surveys and the feedback received from the Fyshwick Parking Consultative Committee. The report has now been finalised and a copy is available for download below.

• 2007/2008 Fyshwick Parking Study  ( PDF 6.8Mb)

The Next Step

The next steps which have been identified in the study include the following:

• Modify existing parking lanes so that they do not continue across driveways and paint new parking lanes to clarify where vehicles should and should not park
• Introduce time-restrictions in consultation with traders in Fyshwick
• Undertake a comprehensive parking utilisation survey
• Subject to the results of the survey, progress a feasibility study into the provision of an off street parking area as well as the elimination of verge parking.

The ACT Government will ensure that further community consultation is conducted as developments from the initial study progress. This will include an extensive survey of all business operators within the Fyshwick area to gauge individual parking needs and requirements. The current consultative committee will also be used to gauge feedback and input from the local community.

There will be regular updates about the project on the TAMS website.