Those of you living in streets included in the parking trial should have received a letter from Council seeking feedback on the parking trial.

ARAG strongly recommends that you respond, as Council will rely on this feedback when deciding whether to expand the trial in your street or not.

We scored a major victory in having visitors’ parking permits included in the trial. If you are benefiting from the visitors’ parking scheme, please respond to Council and let them know how much you value the permits.

Comments may be emailed to council@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au or posted to Traffic Operations, City of Sydney, GPO Box 1591, Sydney NSW 2001. Please quote reference number 2013/060620.

The deadline for responding is 6pm, Friday 22nd of March.

For more information on the trial, visit http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/on-exhibition/current-exhibitions/details/alexandria-parking-trial.

Stage 1 of the Resident Parking Scheme came into effect on 30th July.

The effect was immediate, and dramatic.

However, in what appears to be a loophole in the Parking Plan, a couple of lane-ways including Mitchell Lane and Dibbs Lane remain unrestricted parking.

This has resulted in some residents being parked in and unable to utilise the rear-lane access they have had during the day.

Mark Hannan from the City of Sydney Council is preparing a brief for the August Traffic Management Committee which, if approved, will be submitted to residents for their approval.

Please contact Mark Hannan, Parking Project Manager, with your views – preferably via e-mail – at mhannan@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au

Additionally, if you are encountering problems accessing your properties from these lane-ways, call the Council switchboard on (02) 9265 9333 and Council Rangers will be asked to investigate further.

For information on Alexandria Parking, visit Traffic and Parking in Alexandria on the City of Sydney website.

Around 120 residents attended our meeting at Alexandria Townhall to put questions to council and the ATP about parking and about the proposed expansion of resident parking restrictions.

The meeting heard that:

Feedback on the survey was above average – more than 400 responses from the 3200 surveys sent. The number of restricted parking places proposed for each street is driven by the number of survey responses from that street that were in favour of parking restrictions.

Whether an individual supported or opposed resident parking does not effect their entitlement to resident parking permits.

Cars with resident parking permits may still use unrestricted places – there is no requirement to prefer a resident parking space.

If more residents from a given street apply for resident parking permits than there are resident parking places, the number of resident parking places may be increased.

The State Government has changed the rules about how close to an intersection cars may be parked – the minimum distance has increased from 6meters to 10meters – approximately two car lengths – except where already signposted. Neither Council nor Rangers have any discretion in this matter.

The Council has no control over parking at the ATP site. The number of parks at the ATP site is capped at 1600 by the conditions in the ATP’s original development approval.

Resident parking is not a cure-all. Competition for parking will still exist, and will increase. The ATP is only 50% of its planned size, and there are developments like Ashmore coming.

One reason given for charging for parking at the ATP is that otherwise employees would be more likely to drive and that those who failed to find on-site parking would park offsite. It was proposed that a trial of free parking be held.

The ATP does offer discounted parking for employees, approximately $180 per month for uncovered parking, or $270 for underground parking. It was asked if residents could be entitled to this offer – answer to be provided.

It was said that having a rollerdoor/etc does not necessarily mean that the property will be considered as having parking for the purpose of calculating entitlement to parking – decision is made on a case by case basis. (But note also that Council’s website says that a potential parking spot is treated as a parking spot.)

Everyone now has the right to change their mind, or not. Council has requested feedback on the proposal, and may adjust the number of restricted parks depending on the result.

Friends of Erskineville will be holding a meeting on the Ashmore Development at 7:30 on the 22nd of February.

Council will be holding a Community Meeting on the Parking Study – probably on the 25th of February – to be confirmed.

The main topic of tomorrow’s ARAG meeting (Wed 8th, 7pm at Alexandria Town Hall, 73 Garden St) will be the proposed extension of Resident Parking Restrictions to additional streets around the Australian Technology Park.

We have arranged for several of our local councillors to be providing information and answering questions, including Irene Doutney, Meredith Burgmann, John McInerney, Chris Harris, Shayne Mallard and Di Tornai.