Multi-level carparks required

Multi-level carparks required

The following article was written by Jim Gainsford and originally published Wednesday June 7 2017 by The St George & Sutherland Shire Leader. The following text has been captured using computer software and may not be 100% accurate. You can download a high resolution scan of the original publication HERE.

CAR parks at Macmahon Street, Hurstville and Mont­gomery Street, Kogarah must be redeveloped as multi-sto­rey facilities as a priority, St George Business Chamber says. "When the new council starts it should be high on their agenda;' Chamber president Allan Zreik said. "This should be made their number one priority:' "The need is for central­ised parking, not the current isolated pockets of parking scattered throughout the Hurstville CBD. "Centralised parking would give future employers and big companies the in­centive and certainty to base themselves in Hurstville:' Mr Zreik said the 150-space Georges River Council carpark at Macma­hon Street, Queens Road and Park Road, Hurstville would be ideal as a multi-storey car park of three to four levels. The 82-space Treacy Street car park could also be redeveloped as a multi-storey car park for commuters. And the TAFE car park on the corner of Montgomery and Kensington Streets, Kog­arah could be redeveloped for increased parking. "It is wrong that Hurstville has no multi-storey car park;' Mr Zreik said. "Such a car park would encourage employers with big departments to open offices in Hurstville. It would encourage diners to visit restaurants in the Hurs­tville CBD. "We have been speaking to the former • Hurstville Council for years about more car parking. "We have had a lot of feed­back from businesses that it is a priority. We have spoken to State and Federal politi­cians to get their support. Now we need the new coun­cil to come on-board:' Chamber treasurer Carlos Zeidan said the next step is to persuade Georges River Council to engage a consult­ant. "We would like to see about 500 spaces or even more, but the first issue is that the council needs to en­gage a consultant to look at how many spaces we can get in this area with the current planning and zoning con­trols;' he said. Mr Zreik said there should be 1000 plus car spaces. "The more we get the bet­ter it is for the area;' he said. Federal member for Banks David Coleman recently announced $2.5 million in federal funding towards building a new multi-sto­rey car park for commuters and shoppers at Beverly Hills and sees the need for a similar facility at Hurstville and Kogarah. "I strongly support the Chamber's call for council to take decisive action on this issue;' Mr Coleman said. "The lack of parking in Hurstville is one of the big­gest issues in our commu­nity. Literally hundreds of people have raised this issue with me in recent times;' he said. "Kogarah also has substan­tial problems with parking:'