Commercial Area Parking Issues
AIDA has for some years had significant concerns about parking issues in the top and bottom shops area, which have been compounded by applications for retail development within the bottom shops, which sought and were granted parking waivers. Parking will also be an issue in the top shops area when the apartments/offices planned for behind the general store are built, when the land to the left of the general store is developed, and now that the empty commercial land beside the old post office has been developed. From a meeting with council officers, it would appear that there can be no real planning as to possible acquisition of land for parking or even payment for waivers of retail parking spaces until a traffic management plan is completed by council. So, in an effort to get some accurate figures on the number of parked cars, AIDA undertook traffic counts of all car parks in Aireys Inlet on a Thursday and following Saturday between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm at regular intervals over a period of twelve months. The results demonstrated that all parking areas are under stress at certain times, that parking is occurring outside designated areas, and that both top and bottom shop areas can be full, not necessarily only in peak periods. We have forwarded our results to council and will continue to lobby for a well-thought-out approach to a problem that will only worsen over time.
Barbara Fletcher
State Government Changes Parking Requirements (June 2012) The State Government has made further planning changes – this time reducing car parking requirements. The Minister for Planning has announced the immediate revision of all car parking requirements for developments across Victoria. For a full report click here.
Bottom Shops Car Park
In early September 2012, the shire completed the upgrade of the Bottom Shops car park. A new exposed-aggregate footpath has been constructed in front of all the Bottom Shops. This extends from the VLine bus stop to the Food Store at 89 Great Ocean Road.
The second stage to the upgrade was to improve drainage, reseal the surface of the car park, mark out car and motorcycle spaces, and denote the stopping points at exits from the zone onto the Great Ocean Road.
Gary Johnson AIDA Newsletter October 2012
Inlet Crescent and Aireys Inlet Reserve Car Parks
Click here for updates on redevelopment of these car parks.