PARKING ON WAY
Council, CHHHS plan to alleviate the agony
FINDING a car park at Cairns Hospital is set to become less of a headache under new plans to provide more spaces surrounding the property.
Cairns Regional Council is in discussions with the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) to open up more car spots along Lake St for hospital users.
The council believes simple changes in line marking and more centre parking could add as many as 200 new spaces north of Florence St.
It comes as the Palaszczuk government announced yesterday it would spend $7.5 million statewide over the next four years to make an extra 100,000 free and discounted car parking spaces available at public hospitals each year.
CHHHS chief executive Clare Douglas said the details of how the fund would improve access at Cairns Hospital was still being worked through, however the number of concessional car parking spaces available to patients and carers would be increased.
“The HHS is currently developing a car parking concession policy which will provide eligible patients and their carers with access to free or discounted parking, dependent on their situation,” she said.
The Cairns Post reported last week that about 200 new streetside car parks north of the Cairns City centre were being planned to ease congestion ahead of the Cairns Aquarium’s opening in September.
Division 4 Councillor Terry James, the chairman of the council’s planning and environment committee, said the extra car parks would also assist with hospital parking.
“A lot of that is centre-parking, which includes straightening up some of the 45 degree car parks to 90 degree car parks, and things like that,” he said.
“We’ve drawn up a concept at the moment and we’re talking with the hospital just to make sure they’re aware of what’s going on and then we’ll get into it.”
He said hospital parking had always been an issue since the start of the public facility’s redevelopment in 2011.
“You’ve also got the high school nearby and all the doctors with private clinics and it’s just a busy, busy place all around,” he said.