DRIVERS’ FINE MESS
A GOLD Coast MP wants fines waived for commuters forced to park illegally at the city’s northern railway stations because there is not enough spaces.
Michael Crandon says hundreds of motorists have been unfairly slugged $262 each and he wants “clemency be given to all patrons” at Coomera station until its car park is upgraded.
In reply, the State Government said it was investing more than $114 million for park ’n’ ride facilities and had “cut fares to support commuters”. It also said the “parking issues Mr Crandon complains about stem from his own LNP’s cuts to infrastructure when they were in power”.
PLEAS have been made to the State Government to waive fines for illegal parking at Gold Coast railway stations because it cannot guarantee enough spaces.
Commuters are continuing to face one-off fines of $262 for parking their vehicles off the allocated paved spaces at the Coomera station.
A survey by Coomera MP Michael Crandon has confirmed the increased pressure on station parking, with 33 cars counted as illegally parked at one time at the Coomera station in October last year, 65 in February and 85 in late March.
Surveying at Ormeau station in February and March showed more than 90 illegal parks by mid-morning. In one instance, 106 vehicles were parked outside the full car park by 11.30am on March 6.
Mr Crandon has written to Transport Minister Mark Bailey after a resident paid for a fine that was imposed when his son had no choice but to park in an illegal area off the car park at the Coomera station to ensure he reached an important appointment in Brisbane.
“The parking was always tight at Coomera but with the new town centre it is terrible,” the resident told the MP.
“I see people parking at the station and walking into the centre. I am sure there is something that can be done in terms of shopping centre patrons using the station car park.”
Mr Crandon asked that the fine for the Katinka Circuit resident be waived, much like complaints were not pursued in October last year after public outrage from residents.
Some fines were waived because Transport bureaucrats discovered construction workers, unable to find parks, were using the rail station spaces.
“These cars are parked in a safe way, in a safe area within the Coomera Rail Station and, as I understand it, there have been no incidents regarding people finding an informal place to park,” Mr Crandon said.
His surveying showed informal parking continued to occur at both stations, but vacant land at Ormeau Station enabled most drivers to park legally.
The Coomera MP has asked for a review of all car park fines at the Coomera rail station and “that clemency be given to all patrons” until the station car park is upgraded.
Mr Bailey told the Bulletin: “The parking issues Mr Crandon complains about stem from his own LNP’s cuts to infrastructure when they were in power. The Newman LNP cut $600 million from transport infrastructure and took the growing northern Gold Coast region for granted.”
Detailed design for additional car parks for Ormeau station was under way with the department looking at opportunities to improve parking at Coomera Station.
IF the State Government is determined to kill off any chance of commuters embracing public transport, it only needs to keep caning them with ridiculous fines for parking “illegally’’ around train stations.
The Gold Coast seems to be rolling through a never-ending litany of poor decisions within governments – and oppositions – as it struggles to deal with increasing road traffic congestion and inadequate alternatives.
An obvious answer is a major boost to public transport. Federal and state governments pretend to agree. Heavy rail is to be reviewed, with talk in this federal election campaign of getting the trains rolling beyond Varsity Lakes to the airport. A fastrail service covering southeast Queensland is also being mooted. Time will tell.
Light rail is a big-ticket item that is actually under way, but as the Bulletin revealed yesterday and continues reporting today, the much-needed extension of tram services from Broadbeach to Burleigh and eventually to the airport is in jeopardy because neither the Morrison Coalition Government nor the Shorten Labor Opposition will boost Canberra’s funding commitment for stage 3A.
Indeed, Mr Shorten is reluctant to come anywhere near the Gold Coast, let alone respond to approaches about this vital issue. The Bulletin has warned previously that what is being budgeted federally will not be enough – and sure enough, that is the case. Mayor Tom Tate warned yesterday that unless there is a boost in the federal contribution, the project could be delayed or dumped altogether.
As for the choking M1, what can we say? Today we reveal how Queensland authorities are penalising the very people they are urging to get off the motorway and “take a train instead’’.
How? They send officials out to any of the overflowing commuter car parks at the handful of stations along the Gold CoastBrisbane line and blitz the poor commuters who were unable to snare a parking space and through no fault of their own, had to park on grass or some other spot deemed fair game by Brisbane bureaucrats.
The State Government has to accelerate provision of stations and carparking, even if it cannot increase the frequency of train services until the Cross River Rail project is completed. Until then, commuters living in the northern suburbs without a station will continue to try to cram into the existing car parks until, fed up with never finding a space and fined into submission, they give up and get back on the motorway.
To keep targeting those commuters with fines is a cynical ploy based on greed, particularly when the State Government is well aware it has fallen short in providing the proper infrastructure.