Mayor4Unley

The Royal Show is always a great event. A big hit on the pocket, but lots of fun for the kids. Also the local traders on #GoodyRoad do a brisk business. But, beware and don’t get hit by a parking fine. #Unley Council rigorously patrols the area to ensure that residents are not inconvenienced eg. by cars parking across driveways. It’s best to take public transport to the Show. Less hassle, a low cost and you can stay as long as you want. Written and authorised by BOB SCHNELL #Mayor4Unley 10 Halmon Avenue, Everard Park 5035

A recent public workshop at #Unley Council reviewed the extensive plans to calm traffic across Parkside. It’s a huge area bounded by Unley Road, Greenhill Road, Glen Osmond Road and Fullarton Road. The most troublesome area is north and north east Parkside. In the mornings during peak hour, rat runners are a big problem. The proposed road and street treatments are extensive with a forecast of cutting the rat running by 50%. Reducing it to zero would be great, but that would seriously inconvenience local residents. Given the problem with parking in Parkside, uniform parking controls (eg. 3H) are being considered. The draft 3018/2019 budget has provision for $215k. This will be supplemented by $150k from a ‘Fund your neighbourhood’ grant and more from Govt. ‘Black Spot’ funding. This funding will enable all high priority options to be completed in Year 1. Prior to any works being started, local residents (in that street) will be consulted to ensure there is majority loca...

Parking fines in #Unley were down 16.3% in 2017. Total fines were 8,117 with revenue of $788,000. The fact that the number of fines is down is good news. People are getting the message; or I hope so. I have zero tolerance for all-day commuter parkers; people from the South who drive to Unley, park and then walk or catch public transport to the CBD. These people should be parking at (or near) home and catching public transport to the Adelaide CBD. Parking spaces in Unley should be for the locals and short term visitors; people who shop or do business in Unley. Thinking about it, 8,117 fines is still a lot. Way too many. We have a long way to go to get the right balance. A hefty number of these fines were associated with illegal parking during the Royal Show period near Wayville, Goodwood and Forestville.

Good news for short term shoppers at Goodwood. Unley Council intends to install four 1 hour parking spaces on Surrey Street, on the north side near Goodwood Road. This will be ideal for short term shoppers eg. people going to the Chemist or Post Office. This has been the outcome of a request to me from a resident. It is good to see Council rapidly respond to the request from the community. ps It is likely that by the time the signs are installed in February 2018, two of the parking spaces will be limited to 30 minutes.

Here's a letter to the editor, published on 14 September 2016 ... During last week's Royal Adelaide Show, parking in adjacent Unley suburbs was a total mess. Local traffic was heavy and slow. Why don't more people catch public transport to the Show? The cost of fares for single tickets is a big expense for families. A simple solution would be if the SA Government provided free public transport for people with prepaid tickets to the Show.

This week I met with Council staff to review the temporary parking restrictions to be installed for 10 days during the Royal Show. These restrictions happen every year. Soon, a letter with one free parking permit will be posted to every household in the affected area ... in Wayville, Goodwood and Forestville. Residents will be invited to request additional free permits if required. Last year I noticed that due to heavy parking in Goodwood near the shops, local businesses were severely impacted. Residents were unable to park and shopped elsewhere. Businesses were adversely impacted. Consequently, I asked the Council staff to extend the parking restrictions (of 1-2 hours) further south in the side streets (on the eastern side of Goodwood Road) to enable locals to park and shop. The free permits help to make life a bit easier during the hectic Show period. Council makes a huge effort to control parking in the area. Remember that this year the Show runs for an extra day.