Final plans submitted for new $15.5 million carpark at Paradise O-Bahn interchange
Residents who spent years fighting a multi-storey development near a busy interchange will now have to look at a wall around a new carpark. And it’s nothing like they were first promised.
A new $15.5 million carpark at a busy interchange will create an eyesore for residents who spent years fighting a large multi-storey apartment development, says a councillor.
Cr Sue Irvine has told Campbelltown Council the final design plans for the single-level carpark at the Paradise Park ‘n’ Ride need to be changed.
However, her elected members have refused to support her, voting against a motion for Campbelltown mayor Jill Whittaker and chief executive Paul Di Iulio to seek a meeting with Transport Minister Stephan Knoll.
Cr Irvine spoke at a recent council meeting after the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) briefed elected members on plans for the new carpark next to Gamaeu Rd.
The carpark consists of a ground level area with 141 spaces and a single-deck structure with 306 spaces — providing a total of 447 spaces.
It is vastly different to a multi-storey structure promised by the Liberals before the last state election.
The plans were lodged with the SA Planning Commission two weeks ago for approval and have been made available for public inspection.
The application says seven options were examined, including a multi-level structure, before the single-level facility was chosen.
The project — to be built on an existing carpark and green space on the northern side of the interchange alongside Gameau Rd — will require the removal of 99 trees.
Cr Irvine said the carpark would “distress” nearby residents — who spent several years fighting a multi-storey apartment development — because they would face a “two-storeyed wall along Gameau Rd”.
“The delightful, existing landscaping of mature and significant trees, with distant views will be replaced by a two-storey-high, impenetrable, safety-compromising wall to conceal a sprawling, ugly parking station,” she said.
Cr Irvine said the carpark “differs greatly” from the original concept promoted before the state election, which involved building a multi-level structure over the existing car parks and O-Bahn tracks.
“My main concern is that the briefing told us there will be a huge loss of trees to accommodate this structure as it will have a very large footprint. Many trees will have to go,” she said.
“It is an enormous structure, a monolithic concrete structure that will generate a lot of heat and will create a hostile environment for humans in both summer and winter, day and night.”
Cr Irvine said councillors were told at the DPTI briefing the carpark would not solve long-term parking problems, which had been causing issues for years.
“The people from DPTI have told us that it will be full from day one and cars will continue to park on Darley Rd and all through the backstreets around the interchange,” she said.
Cr Irvine said council would be unfairly blamed for the carpark’s shortfalls, “which we will have to live with in Campbelltown for 50 to 100 years”.
“When its bulk, size, permanence and inadequacy for the job is understood, Campbelltown Council will almost certainly take the blame, people will criticise us for it,” she said.
Cr Irvine said DPTI should be asked to revise the plans for the carpark, which was promised by both major parties before the last state election.
“It will change the whole look of the entrance to Campbelltown as people come in from Holden Hill,” she said.
“It is very important that the people of Campbelltown have input into what it is going to be built. Once it is there, it will be there for 50 years.”
However, other councillors voted against trying to get the plans changed, with Cr Anna Leombruno saying council “shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds us”.
Cr Leombruno said the State Government was paying for the carpark and, “as a courtesy”, had shown the plans to elected members.
“We have given them our feedback, we have passed on our concerns but at the end of the day we don’t have that much more power than what we already have done,” she said.
“It’s a carpark and it’s going to be hard to beautify a carpark. Residents don’t live near a beach, they live near a bus terminal.”
According to a report prepared by DPTI’s consultants, Public Transport Projects Alliance, there had been a positive reaction from Campbelltown Council to the carpark designs.
“Feedback on the design options from council staff has been positive with recognition of the PTP Alliance team’s efforts to increase total available parking while maintaining the amenity of the site and minimise visual impacts for adjacent residents,” it said.
The report — attached to the plans submitted to the Planning Commission — said residents had been widely consulted throughout the planning process.
“Initial informal feedback from residents on the possibility of increased carparking being constructed on the site was positive,” it said.
“Some residents expressed concern about the potential loss of trees from the Park ’n’ Ride site resulting in a change to existing amenity, shading and screening.”
Public feedback on the plans closes on August 21.
They are available for inspection at the council’s chambers on Montacute Rd, Newton or on the SA Planning Commission website.