Shopper campaigns for better parking at her favourite centre

A ST CLAIR resident, frustrated with the lack of parking at St Clair Shopping Centre, has launched a Facebook group advocating for a better deal.

Anne Brady says the car spaces at St Clair Shopping Centre are too narrow and there are not enough.

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A ST CLAIR resident, frustrated with the lack of parking at St Clair Shopping Centre, has launched a Facebook group advocating for a better deal.

Anne Brady labels the car park “the worst in the west”, giving a clear indication what people on the page think of the service at their local shops.

“Even on a normal day it’s not easy to get a park,” she said. “Unless you get there at 8 in the morning or 7 at night it’s always full. It isn’t big enough for the amount of people in the area.”

Ms Brady, who has lived in St Clair for 10 years, said it was about Easter this year that she finally decided she’d had enough and started a page to garner support for improvements to the car park.

“I normally try to avoid it by going to St Marys or Mt Druitt,” Ms Brady said.

“But I feel I shouldn’t have to.

“This is my suburb’s shopping centre and the closest to me but I avoid it because of the mess it’s in.”

A St Clair Shopping Centre management spokeswoman said the car park was compliant with all Penrith Council regulations, including the number of parking bays, and was approved by council.

The Facebook page has gained momentum and now has almost 500 likes.

It also has a vocal community of commenters.

Anne Brady says that the car spaces at St Claire Shopping Centre are too narrow.

Joy Hannaford Jackson said: “St Clair shopping centre should be ashamed of this car park. Why don’t they fix it?”

Sue Shanahan said people with a disability ran a risk getting into the shops.

“Can you also put in a proposal to make it more accessible for disabled people who use public transport to get to shops?” she said.

“They have to risk serious injury dodging cars to get to the shops from the main road.”

Other commenters on the page use descriptions like “nightmare” and “difficult” for their carpark experience.

Ms Brady said the shopping centre, community centre, Red Rooster and McDonalds were all in one small space which made parking and pedestrian crossings a nightmare.

“Make it easier for the residents of St Clair to park there and do their shopping,” she pleaded.

“More locals would shop there if it was easier. I’ve found people are giving up and going elsewhere.”

The centre management spokeswoman said there weren’t any plans to extend the car park further.

“The carpark was redesigned as part of the redevelopment and extension of the centre in 2008-2009 and was architecturally designed at the time and approved by council. The centre undertook further work to the carpark in April 2010 with the reconfiguring of the McDonalds drive-through entry, with council input,” centre management said in a statement.

Management said they couldn’t be responsible for traffic outside the shopping centre.

Ms Brady has launched an change.org petition which has reached almost 200 supporters already.