Opinion: Don’t touch the Woolies carpark ... it’s great the way it is

THE CBD Woolies’ one-way parking system works, so don’t change it, writes PHILLIPPA BUTT

The Woolworths Carpark in the CBD is getting an upgrade with developers knocking down two houses in Searcy St. But hopefully it doesn’t change too much, Phillippa Butt writes. Picture: Katrina Bridgeford

IT’S a controversial opinion in Darwin but I don’t hate the Woolies carpark. In fact, I quite like it.

And I’m excited the new renovations to it aren’t going to mess with its overall layout.

I like that it only goes one way — it means I’m less likely to have a crash because I didn’t spot someone coming from one of the directions.

I like that the majority of spots are under cover — protecting my car from the hot sun and protecting me from the torrential rains.

I like that there’s the option, if you don’t want to go through the loop, to drive straight through from Cavenagh St to Smith St.

I like that in my small car, most of the spots are fairly easy to drive into (I have heard this isn’t the case for those who drive big 4WDs — though, if I’m honest, big 4WDs probably don’t need to be trying to park in tiny carparks anyway).

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I like that while it has a time limit, there is no cost to park there.

I like that it’s not that big, meaning when I’ve got lots of groceries or heavy bottles of wine, I don’t have to walk too far to my car.

On that, I like that it’s open and clear — no matter what time of night I go there I don’t feel unsafe, unlike the Coles underground carpark.

I like that for those who don’t want to drive through the carpark, there are plenty of on street parks around.

And I like that it’s almost exactly halfway between home and work, making it easy to stop in at when I’ve forgotten to get milk.

But my opinion, as I’ve already said, is controversial.

In conversations in our office I’ve been told I’m “wrong”, that it’s the “worst carpark ever created” and that it’s “just plain awful”.

People have whined they’ve been stuck for hours going around the loop. This was probably an exaggeration, but as someone who’s been shopping at Melbourne’s Chadstone at Christmas (which has more than 10,000 spots and saw about 250,000 people crowd into the centre in the three days before Christmas last year), I can never be sure.

The longest I’ve ever been stuck in the Darwin Woolies carpark was eight minutes (I actually timed it because it felt like it was taking a long time so it was probably a couple of minutes longer once I actually looked at my watch).

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People have said it’s too small and you can never get a park. But they’re the ones whinging about its layout anyway, so I wonder why they’re parking there to begin with.

And they’ve said they’re only ever seconds away from a fender bender. I’ve lived in the city for almost three and a half years. Because I’m not so great at the food prep, I go to Woolies almost every second night. And not once have I seen a crash in that car park.

In fact, the only time I’ve seen anyone come close was when someone was driving the wrong way up the straight one way stretch. And their license plates were from out of town. There is one thing I don’t like but it’s not the carpark itself’s fault.

Turning onto Smith St can be difficult when there’s car’s parked on the left of the driveway.

But again, that’s on the council, not on the Woolies carpark.

The new renovations will bring an additional 26 parks, and widen 24 of the spots.

Another 30 will be covered. There’ll be a new entry and exit point — which will help those whingers who want to be able to get out.

But the overall loop will stay the same. And in my book, that’s a great thing.