‘Confusing’ parking at Queen St Village shopping centre divides Southport

A controversial paid parking scheme at Queen St Village has been slammed as ‘confusing’ by some and supported by others. Read the owner’s response.

A controversial paid parking scheme at a new Gold Coast shopping centre has been slammed as “confusing” with calls for management to step in.

Queen St Village recently started enforcing 45 minutes free parking in its “open area” parking section. Those who park in the underground level are given two hours free.

Southport resident Julie Von Bibra Higgins said charging different fees for open area and underground parking was confusing for shoppers.

Julie Von Bibra Higgins at Queen St Village. Picture: Jerad Williams

She said three hours free parking for the whole centre made more sense, noting the current charges were more expensive than other shopping centres in the area.

“If you’re going in here for a meal, usually you sit for an hour or so,” she said.

“By the time you go see a movie, that’s over two and a half hours.

“We used to stop and get a meal after a movie – well we can’t do that now.”

Queen St Village tenant Nhung Nguyen, from The Fish Tank, said concerns about parking had been raised with centre management.

“I do agree that it needs to be free for at least three hours, for both top and bottom (areas),” Ms Nguyen said.

“What they have done is confusing a lot of people.

“They had a lot of teething issues with the gates – tickets not printing and reading number plates incorrectly.”

Parking prices at Queen St Village, Southport

She said staff working in the centre were also feeling the sting and had to fork out $99 a month for parking.

Ms Nguyen said management had to keep some form of paid parking to prevent commuters and city workers from using it.

A spokesman for the centre’s owner, Chauvel Capital Parters, said it would install extra signage and review parking operations.

“The open area quick service parking area off Queen St is for customers intending to be in and out within 45 minutes and is a key feature for customers who have short term parking requirements,” he said.

“The under covering parking area is free for up to two hours and able to be enjoyed by customers who need to be at the centre for longer periods.

“Validated cinema patrons have concessional rates available after this period.

“We are currently reviewing operation of the car park to ensure that genuine customers are not inconvenienced.”

Parking signage at Queen St Village. Picture: Jerad Williams

Shopper Adam Bolton said he supported the current paid parking system.

“I have been there probably five times in the last two weeks with no issues,” he said.

“They offer two hours free parking, which is great, and if you are at the movies or something you can get a validation ticket to reduce your parking cost.

“I was at the movies then had dinner there on Sunday and with the parking validation it only cost me $5.”