Parking pain gets chronic
Hospital visitors vent frustrations
FURIOUS drivers have demanded action to solve Geelong’s hospital precinct parking crisis.
Lara resident Vicki Mitchell was “blown away” at the support after voicing her frustrations on social media, calling for a multistorey carpark to be constructed and more disabled carparks to be provided for those with accessibility issues.
On her most recent visit last week, Ms Mitchell said she arrived early as planned to an appointment for her 73-year-old mum, only to spend more than an hour searching for a park and ending up 30 minutes late to her scheduled appointment. It forced an additional twohour wait to be seen.
Ms Mitchell said her mum had anxiety issues and could not handle being left at the drop-off zone, a concern shared by carers of dementia patients.
“I can’t leave her alone at the hospital. She has anxiety issues, she doesn’t know where she’s going, and I don’t want her to wander off,” she said.
“I have a back injury myself and just walking or getting close to the hospital is terrible.
“I have got a disabled pass for her for my car, but they’re all used up. Where the helipad used to be, that’s the perfect spot for a massive carpark for the hospital.”
She said the issue was just as bad now as before the roadworks, and worse than when Geelong Private Hospital was still operational.
Barwon Health spokeswoman Kate Bibby said management had taken steps to ease parking congestion by opening a staff carpark at the former helipad site, taking over the Geelong Private Hospital’s former carpark and extending visiting hours.
City of Greater Geelong director of planning and development, Gareth Smith, all but ruled out supporting a multistorey carpark and said building more parking off-street would only result in more traf- fic congestion in the city.
But in a glimmer of hope to those with accessibility needs, he said increasing the proportion of parking spots for people with disabilities was a possibility as council formulated a Geelong Hospital Precinct Plan. There are 35 on-street and 40 off-street parking spots in the hospital precinct.
“Findings from the initial design assessment show that there is scope to improve access and convenience for people with disabilities by providing a greater percentage of accessible parking bays,” Mr Smith said.
Geelong MP Christine Couzens said Labor would work to provide more parking options, considering the extra pressure the precinct would attract as part of the party’s $100 million commitment to a Geelong Women’s and Children’s Hospital at the former private hospital.
Neither Liberal candidate Freya Fidge nor independent Darryn Lyons could be reached for comment.