Nothing gets people more riled up than when they can't find a car park - whether it's for work, shopping, dinner or going to the theatre. And it's becoming more commonplace in Launceston.
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Parking in Launceston has been thrown into the spotlight as the Launceston Council pursues a strategy to increase pedestrians in the CBD, and to prioritise short-term parking options over longer-term parking. The Launceston Council manages both on and off-street parking in the city, and in recent years has consolidated parking options, along with private car park operators, to use the land for development.
Launceston commuters have lost a sizeable patch of land to the University of Tasmania, who purchased and took over the large car park at Willis Street. It has also closed the half-circle car park at the front of QVMAG (although some of those car parks will return following the completion of the Inveresk campus).
Currently they have also lost the Gasworks car park, which has been closed for development and the potential development of the Rebel sports store in the CBD will disrupt parking at that car park (although that one is run by a private owner).
Parking has even become a cause of contention at The Examiner, with some staff holding the location of their car parks a closely guarded secret for fear the word will get out and they will lose their coveted spots.
It's not an isolated experience, with Launceston Chamber of Commerce Will Cassidy describing the "battle" his workers go through every day, especially those who work later than the traditional 9am start.
A plan to pedestrianise the Launceston CBD is not inherently in and of itself a bad thing. But when commuters are already under pressure, questions remain about how the council will address the ongoing needs of office workers as parallel with short term parking options and public transport.
The Launceston Council's central activities district implementation strategy, which was adopted last year, was completed in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It beggars the question of whether capacity limits were as accurate as they could be, when the large majority of workers were still working at home and short term parking was being prioritised to limit social interaction.
While pursuing the idea of making the CBD more pedestrian friendly is an idea that has merit, the council will need to ensure it can make the alternative options are as effective as possible. For example, the UTAS Stadium car park-and-ride is currently under-utilised but the Tiger Bus doesn't service the needs of people who live in the north and west. Asking people to consider public transport to the Launceston Aquatic Centre will require family-friendly bus options or the reconfiguration of transport routes to even allow a bus to get anywhere near it.
Public transport will need a serious overhaul to make it an attractive and cost-effective option - and Launceston at present still doesn't have any movement on the long-touted bus interchange, a project that seems less likely every day.
Those needs at present don't seem to be met, and will not wash with the large volume of commuters and will need to be addressed before any changes will be adopted.
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