It’s official: Goldfields Plaza the hardest place to find a park

Motorists have reached a general consensus on where the worst places are in Gympie for finding a car park, and it is probably not going to come as a great shock to anyone.

Where’s the hardest place to get a car park in Gympie? Seems most people agree it is Goldfields Plaza, followed by the Gympie Hospital.

Goldfield’s Plaza in Monkland Street has claimed the dubious honour of being the hardest place to find a car park in Gympie, followed closely by the public hospital.

More than a quarter of online readers named the shopping centre’s parking as their least favourite after The Gympie Times asked for their thoughts on Facebook.

The hospital and its notorious, limited hillside parking ran a close second.

Karen Cullen said when it came to limited space there was no competition for Goldfields, which required “a 10-20 point turn to park or get out if you’re in a bigger car”.

Trudy Keough said the CBD shopping centre had been “worse than ever” since Target became K-Hub and Bec Holt said she simply refused to go there.

The size of the parking bays and tight room to manoeuvre were not the only problems drivers had.

Unfortunately, there is little free space to expand around Goldfield’s Plaza. Picture: Google Maps

“I just found out today the worst trouble with Coles is the huge oblong posts that hold the building up; they should be round ones,” Glad Bailey said.

“ You think you are going back with plenty of room then … crunch!”

Karla White said it was not just the customers being left in the cold by the parking situation.

“There is little to no parking for the employees, which is a joke,” she said.

“ Only the click and collect which is always full, up and down the side of the street which again is always full.

“Or you have to risk it and park a block over near (Gympie) Central (State School)”.

The parking situation around Gympie Hospital has caused some headaches. Picture: Google Maps

Unfortunately, options to expand or improve parking at Goldfields’ appears limited; it is bound by roads on three sides and businesses and houses at the back.

The hospital’s parking came under fire for a different reason: a gradient one reader said would fit nicely in the Himalayas.

“It‘s soooo steep,” Michelle Taylor said.

“Many times I’ve been sick or my children and we always got that carpark with a gradient of Mount Everest.”

Christine Jescott said the problem was compounded because “mostly ppl (sic) who are sick, injured or frail need to go there and (there are) no parks or you have to climb the hill”.

The packed on-street parking at the hospital was a problem for developers planning to build a multistorey aged care centre nearby. The project has been approved by Gympie Regional Council.

Nor did it do any favours for Gympie women.

“Y’all ever tried to walk up that hill pregnant, it ain’t easy,” said Gabrielle Pamenter.

The hospital’s parking issues have been an ongoing issue, and recently threatened the approval of a multi-storey aged care home planned for across the road from the medical centre.

Gympie MP Tony Perrett has called for the State Government to begin planning for a new regional hospital, citing the limitations of the existing site.

Parking at Mary St, Gympie Radiology and Southside Town Centre were also popular choices for being hard places to find a park.

But Lauren Whaite summed the situation up succinctly.

“Well going off most of the comments I think we can all agree that Goldfields Plaza and the hospital parking areas are in desperate need of an upgrade,” she said.