Seniors left with no spaces
Members of the Manly Senior Citizens Club (MSCC) on Pittwater Road in Manly are furious that the general public can park in a nearby 23-space council car park for up to eight hours.
Judy Rice, MSCC president, told Peninsula Living (PL) that staff from Harris Farm Markets, located opposite MSCC, regularly parked at the Keirle Park carpark, along with people commuting to the city.
The club has about 400 members, with 40 attending the centre daily for activities seven days a week. Ms Rice stressed that many members are 80 to 90 years old and need the accessibility of the on-site car park.
The active Manly Croquet Club (MCC) regularly holds competitions at the site. Manly Computer Pals (MCP) also uses the car park, along with Meals on Wheels, which has four dedicated parking spaces.
Originally, from 2020 to 2023, parking was four hours. It moved to eight hours last July. This was further restricted to ‘8P every day’ from 8am to 8pm in November.
Centre users were given parking permits in December, and according to MSCC, the parking sign was also to be changed in December to ‘Authorised Parking – Permit Holders Only.’
Instead, council sent letters to residents and businesses inviting them to respond to a proposal to change the existing 8P timed parking to a ‘4P Timed Parking unless signposted otherwise’ restriction.
This would apply between 8am and 8pm daily, and the 4P would apply to all vehicles using the carpark, except Meals on Wheels volunteers and those using disabled spaces.
The possibility of using a grassed area at the rear of the building for extra parking was discussed at an MSCC/MCC parking meeting in May 2023, attended by councillor David Walton and council transport manager Phillip Devon.
MSCC said that the grassed area had a concrete slab underneath and could accommodate about 30 extra cars. Mr Devon agreed that council would explore the ability to trial the grassed area for parking.
Council told PL it was working to find the ‘right’ parking restrictions to support the varying needs of the community, including MSCC and MCC patrons. The survey closes 12 April.