Village’s popularity creating carparking nightmare

Council looking at options to make carparking safer.

Parking in Eltham village.

Eltham’s popularity could also be a curse according to residents, with its lack of designated carparking causing a traffic hazard.

There was currently no formal parking around the tennis courts, pub and gallery site.

During community consultation three options were presented to alleviate the parking problems.

Residents and business owners said haphazard parking created blind spots, particularly near Mayfield St, as well as raising concerns about speeding.

Many submissions warned reducing carparking spaces was not the solution.

One resident said the increasing popularity of the Eltham Hotel saw an influx of cars that the three options did not adequately address.

Casey Jackson said there were better options to fix the problem than those presented, which would “only drive the parking problem further down the road”.

Co-owner of the Eltham Hotel, Luke Sullivan, pledged their support to solving the parking problem in a way that didn’t negatively impact business.

He pointed out their rural location that required transport to get to, and offered a parking plan as a solution.

A council staff member said at a council meeting that finding a solution did not require “reinventing the wheel”, and would require no budget other than staff time to rectify.

Councillors voted to support the Traffic Advisory Committee’s recommendation to consider options and work towards formalising parking in the village.