Ferntree Gully Senior Citizens’ Club at risk of closing due to lack of parking for members

UPDATE: Parking restrictions will be introduced in a street in Melbourne’s outer east to give more spaces for an elderly citizens’ centre under threat of closure.

Ferntree Gully Senior Citizens’ Club president Mary Longley said parking issues at the train station have caused memberships to decline drastically. Picture: Stuart Milligan.

A GROUP that provides a lifeline for isolated elderly citizens is at risk of closing because there isn’t enough parking for members.

The Ferntree Gully Senior Citizens’ Club operates out of a building on Underwood Rd and has parking spaces on the road and nearby, but they are often taken up by commuters.

Club president Mary Longley said memberships had dwindled to an all-time low because of the lack of parking, and one of the centre’s programs, which once had a six-month waiting list for new members, now only had 25 participants.

“There used to be 80 or so people plus a waiting list for the Friendly Pensioners — you used to have to wait for someone to leave or die before you could join,” Mrs Longley said.

She said it would be a shame for the program to close as it was a “lifeline” for many people who relied on it for social interaction.

“I’ve been going for 18 years and I’ve made lifelong friends — we’ve all been through the same experiences of losing people or caring for sick loved ones,” she said.

Mrs Longley said cars parked illegally, including over footpaths, also posed a safety risk for the club’s members, including those with disabilities, and the parking woes had worsened over the past two years.

“(People) just park anywhere they want to park — if they could stack themselves on top of one another they would,” she said.

She said the council had put up signs years ago in a bid to reserve parks for the centre, but the signs weren’t heeded.

Knox Council’s engineering and infrastructure director, Ian Bell, said three-hour parking restrictions would be installed in Underwood Rd in a push to provide about seven medium-term parking spots.

He said the council would welcome more parking for commuters, as well as improved bus services.

Spokesman for the Public Transport Minister, Kosta Pandos slammed the Coalition Government for making “empty promises” ahead of last year’s election.

“(They) had four years to improve parking at Ferntree Gully but they did nothing, then made (an) empty promise in a desperate attempt to get elected,” Mr Pandos said.

He said there were no plans for more parking at the station, but the carpark’s expansion would be investigated as part of the State Government’s $20 million allocation for resurfacing works.

Parking at Ferntree Gully train station is often full but the citizens’ club is calling for more parking spaces so they can be allocated to club members.

Knox Council also provides a bus to the centre twice a week, with people paying $4 to be picked up and dropped off at their front doors.

But Mrs Longley said sometimes the bus had trouble parking close to the centre, which was a problem for people with walkers or in wheelchairs.

She said extra car spaces at the station would help ease congestion, as well as more spots allocated for the centre’s patrons.

The Coalition Government made an election promise last year of $1.1 million to build 110 more car spaces at Ferntree Gully train station, but this wasn’t matched by Labor.

Ferntree Gully state Liberal MP Nick Wakeling is now leading a renewed push for the spaces, which would bringing the number of sealed spots to almost 400.

He said in the meantime he had called for a meeting with the Government, seniors’ club and council to find a solution to the parking problems.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan previously told the Leader there were no plans for more parking at the station, but the carpark’s expansion would be investigated as part of the State Government’s $20 million allocation for resurfacing works.

Comment has been sought from the State Government, Public Transport Victoria and Knox Council.