More than 300 car spaces to ease parking issues at Tea Tree Plaza

A POSSIBLE Christmas parking squeeze at one of Adelaide’s largest shopping centres will be eased in December with 320 spaces to be made available to staff at a nearby building site.

Around 250 car spaces have been taken up by the first stage of a redevelopment of Tea Tree Plaza. Picture: AAP/Roy Vandervegt.

• Tea Tree Plaza to get new restaurants and dine-in cinema experience
• Hundreds of car parks to go for $235m upgrade of Tea Tree Plaza
• Parking fines up 20 per cent at Tea Tree Plaza shopping centre

A POSSIBLE Christmas parking squeeze at Tea Tree Plaza will be eased in December with 320 spaces to be made available to centre staff at a nearby building site.

The former O-Bahn carpark on Smart Rd, which is currently vacant, will be made temporarily available for plaza staff to park in for December.

But the parking fix is only temporary, with works set to begin at the site in early 2018 as ECH builds a multimillion-dollar retirement village across a 9800sq m site at 85 Smart Rd, which neighbours the plaza and Modbury Hospital.

Around 250 car spaces have been swallowed up by the first stage of redevelopment works at the plaza which will create a new dining and leisure precinct, including three new cinemas.

It is expected to open by the end of 2018.

Mayor Kevin Knight welcomed the news that hundreds of centre staff would be parking elsewhere.

“Westfield know what they’re doing and they’re trying to do the right thing,” he said.

“If they can get the staff to park over there it frees up a lot of space for shoppers.

“I think it’s a good idea, it’s brilliant forward thinking. I commend them for that.”

Tea Tree Plaza upgrade designs.

Local shopper Lisa Lemon said it was good news as she tended to avoid the plaza during the lead-up to Christmas.

“That would be fabulous if it frees up some parking for the locals during the Christmas period,” she said.

“I use it at least once or twice a week, I live just off Reservoir Rd, so it’s my local for most things.

“During Christmas I tend to avoid it though as the parking is ridiculous and you spend more time looking for a park than shopping.”

Centre manager Lachlan Monfries said “a small proportion” of carparks would be taken up by redevelopments, but the plaza was still well supplied.