Barwon Health parking not fine
“Sick people need these parks.” KERRY McKENZIE
A WOMAN taking her husband to have surgery at Barwon Health says she was “disgusted” to discover City of Greater Geelong trucks blocking all disabled parking outside the Gretta Volum centre.
Geelong’s Kerry McKenzie said she was forced to leave her husband Gary, who has serious health issues and was scheduled for cataract surgery, outside the centre before nabbing a park at least a six-minute walk away.
City of Greater Geelong director city services Guy Wilson-Browne said the council’s City Works teams recommenced road and footpath works at the beginning of January and needed to occupy a number of carparks for a short time.
“All works affecting carparking in the area will be completed this week,” he said.
“For safety and efficiency reasons, the Myers and Bellerine street works required asphalting trucks to be parked immediately next to where the works are occurring.”
Mrs McKenzie said her husband wouldn’t have been able to walk six minutes “blind” to the car and she was concerned about his safety.
“If I didn’t have my daughter with me I would have had to prop him up somewhere while I went and got the car,” she said.
“It’s frightening for him to not be able to see where he’s going.”
She also reported that the drivethrough entrance to the centre was blocked by council trucks, which meant she had to stop on the road to help her ill husband from the car.
“Sick people need these parks,” Mrs McKenzie said.
She said finding disabled parking around Geelong was becoming increasingly difficult and indicated that it was a widespread issue, not just around the hospital.
In mid-2016 an online petition supporting more accessible all-day parking in the hospital precinct gained more than 1000 signatures, with many nurses and medical professionals saying they feared for their safety while walking to their cars after dark.
Mrs McKenzie said the council did not have enough disabled parking to cater for the needs of the community.
Mr Wilson-Browne said there were 35 off-street and 40 on-street designated accessible carparking spaces in the hospital precinct.
“Findings from initial design assessments of the hospital precinct show that there is scope to improve access and convenience for people with disabilities by providing a greater percentage of accessible parking bays,” he said.
“This will be addressed through a future precinct plan.”
The council’s central Geelong carparking strategy is open for consultation now at www.geelongaustralia.com.au/ yoursay