Article: Redland parking fee plan angers Bay island residents

[ozbob]

From Courier Mail click here!

Redland parking fee plan angers Bay island residents

Redland parking fee plan angers Bay island residents
Article from: The Courier-Mail

By Robyn Ironside

October 25, 2008 12:00am

LIFE on Moreton Bay's islands is set to get more expensive for residents as Redland City Council plans to slap car parking fees on ferry terminals.
The proposal has incensed residents of Macleay, Russell, Lamb and Karragarra islands in the more-populous southern end of the bay.

Many of them were forced to leave their cars at the Weinam Creek ferry terminal at Redland Bay so they could use them when they travelled to the mainland for work.

Under the council plan, island residents would face a fee of about $9 a day for using the car park, or more than $3000 a year.

"We want to make sure everyone has equal access to parking. The user-pays system will help partially fund construction and also deter people from using the facility as a long-term permanent car park, which minimises available space," Mayor Melva Hobson said.

But Merle Bowden, of Macleay Island, said the proposal would adversely affect most of the 6000 people living on the four islands.

"We're really up in arms. We're aghast they could try and do this sort of thing," Ms Bowden said.

"For the council to suggest residents rely on public transport instead just shows how completely out of touch they are.

"One resident works at Windsor (on Brisbane's northside). It would take her three hours to get to work on public transport but in a car it takes about an hour."

Macleay Island Progress Association president Robin Harris said a meeting had been called for next week to set up an action committee to fight the proposal.

"It's one hell of an issue for residents," Mr Harris said. "Many of the people who live on the island do so because of the cheaper cost of housing here but the council is making it more and more expensive to do that.

"If the council introduces car parking fees, many of us will be forced on to the barges. There will be a higher amount of traffic on the barges and that'll drive up their prices. We're caught between a rock and a hard place."

He said people on the island were at a disadvantage because they made up only 6 per cent of the Redland City population, leaving them with little political clout. "We're at a severe electoral disadvantage," Mr Harris said.

"The majority of councillors have no concept of what it means to live on the islands. They're completely disinterested in even coming over for a look."

The Redland City Council proposal is on display at local libraries and shopping centres for public comment until December 5.

[haakon]

I moved off the islands about a month ago. I used PT to get to work everyday  in the Brisbane CBD and I can safely say that it is in no way adequate to completely replace private transport. Unless you happen to work in two narrow corridors serviced by the direct bus routes you were looking a very large wait times to transfer etc.