Apartment residents not given on-street parking permits in Doncaster
Renters are believed to be abandoning apartments in a booming suburb in Melbourne’s east after the local council denied them parking permits.
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People living in apartments near Westfield Doncaster say permit restrictions and an overflow of shoppers taking spots is creating parking nightmares in their street.
Manningham Council introduced a parking permit policy in April to better manage demand in high-density areas, including Berkeley St in Doncaster.
The policy included a rule that people in buildings with 10 or more apartments could not apply for on-street parking permits.
Dion Chow, who has lived at The Berkeley apartment complex with his wife for nearly three years, said the policy made it difficult for couples and families with more than one car.
He said residents only got one underground space and he had to fight the council to get his street parking permit renewed at $63 for one year.
Mr Chow said his wife now parked her car at his daughter’s house due to the tough rules and the overflow of shoppers.
“The street is packed out … a lot of people don’t have a permit and they park here for shopping.
“By creating that, people like us have permits, but we have nowhere to park.”
Meanwhile, a renter in the street, Christopher George, emailed Manningham Leader and said the tough conditions was forcing him and other people to move out.
Mr George said the decision was “half-baked” and made it hard for working families or couples with more than one car.
“The Doncaster area has no train or tram lines, and the bus system is not efficient, so, most people must drive to work.
“If the residents are families and both working, then they need two cars to go to work and they wouldn’t have anywhere to park the second car.”
Mr George did not say if he lived alone or owned more than one car.
“Residents living in the houses (in Berkeley St) have been issued parking permits, although they don’t really need it, because they have garages and driveways to park their cars.”
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“I can see everyday people moving out of those apartments because they have no parking solution. Personally, I am doing the same thing.”
The council’s director of city planning and community, Angelo Kourambas, said its parking policy was “consistent with other municipalities facing similar pressures around population growth”.
Mr Kourambas said the council had not received any requests for additional parking in the Doncaster Hill area from Westfield or Bunnings, which is building its new Doncaster store nearby.