Thursday, 31 August 2023

Ballarat car parking

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (12:26): (271) My question is to the Minister for Regional Development. I want to talk about car parks in Ballarat. Do the 280 car parks at 118–122 Creswick Road in Ballarat, which your department contributed $851,839 towards, form part of the 2018 election commitment of 1000 car parks to be built in Ballarat?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Equality) (12:26): I have got to say, Mr McCracken, it is a joy and a pleasure to have a question from you in relation to regional Victoria.

Georgie Crozier interjected.

Harriet SHING: No, I am being very sincere, Ms Crozier. And I have got to say I actually do welcome the opportunity, Mr McCracken, to talk about the work that is happening to deliver car parks across regional Victoria and indeed to make sure that when we get these car parks through to places such as Ballarat they are making the difference that we want to see in those growth areas and those often really condensed areas of the cities and CBDs where we need to make the best use of land. We have delivered a range of opportunities in partnership with council, including leasing land for a short-term purpose to meet some of that need and to free up some of the resource that is so required, and in 2018 we provided a funding envelope of $2 million to the City of Ballarat to assist. That is by way of context in terms of that other work that has been undertaken to date.

We have delivered 612 car spots through the City of Ballarat under the parking action plan, and that includes 280 spaces at Creswick Road, which were available for use from November 2019 until May this year, when it closed for development of the site. We have also delivered 135 additional car spaces at the Ballarat station precinct, and we are investigating options to deliver the remaining 253 car spaces within a 500-metre radius of the GovHub as part of the funding arrangements. We have two sites in terms of development of the car spots in partnership with RDV, and that is 113 spots across Havelock Street and White Flat oval, and a further two sites at Market Street, which is 36 spaces, and the Ballarat Base Hospital, which is 400 spaces, being delivered through the Victorian Health Building Authority to commence construction in 2023. And we are continuing to work through the way in which we can maximise use of a range of other facilities, including the GovHub, around taking pressure off surrounding areas, again, so that more people within Ballarat and surrounds can find a car park when they head to the busiest parts of this growing community.

Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (12:29): Thank you, Minister, for your response. As you said, 118–122 Creswick Road was actually leased on a three-year contract and the possession of that land was taken back by the landlord in May this year, so effectively we have got 850-odd thousand dollars that has been spent on car parks that are no longer there. Minister, how does that represent value for money?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Water, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Equality) (12:29): Thank you very much, Mr McCracken. Again, the lease involving acquisition of that land for the purpose of meeting those car-parking requirements meant that we could provide replacement car spots in – as you know as somebody who calls that part of the world home – what is a really congested part of the city and a place where there is increasing demand for car spots. There was funding provided to council to replace their car parking at sites that were determined by council. This is something that has always formed part of alleviating pressure while other work continues. It is important to have these interim processes underway so that while we are getting on with those jobs of delivering these record investments in funding, not just in Ballarat but around regional Victoria, we have those interim steps in place to make sure that in partnership with councils, in partnership with communities, we are taking pressure off surrounding areas. When you talk about what price, Mr McCracken, that means that, when people need a car spot, because land has been leased they are in a position to be able to find one.