|
Police Station, Port Lincoln Mrs PENFOLD (Flinders): The courts and police station in Port Lincoln are about to be redeveloped, something which is necessary and long overdue. But the way Planning SA and the minister have gone about deciding how it will be done demonstrates an indifference to the needs of the local community and the future of Port Lincoln. Planning SA has decided to go ahead with rebuilding the police station and courts on their present site at the corner of Liverpool Street and Adelaide Place. Anyone who has been to Port Lincoln in recent years and had their eyes open will know that this site is the epicentre of the city's parking and traffic problems. Every day, enormous semitrailers loaded with grain, fish, food, cars and goods of all kinds rumble along Liverpool Street, which is the main street and is always busy with pedestrians and other motorists, including many who travel from outlying districts to do their shopping. This accumulation of traffic on narrow roads in this area often results in congestion, a problem which peaks before 9 a.m. and again at 3.30 p.m., when parents are trying to drop off or pick up their children at the nearby primary and junior primary schools, also located on Adelaide Place. In fact, the Department of Education and Children's Services contracted MMR Consultants to do a report on the traffic and parking problems associated with the two schools. The consultants found that parking in the area is so restricted that parents often park where they are not allowed to do so, such as in bus zones, and they drive on the footpaths. The report says there is a demand for up to 240 parking spaces, including 90 spaces for staff, and that there is no provision for on-site parking for any staff. The report also found a number of traffic problems which may put children in danger, stating: Increased development in Port Lincoln will result in increased traffic volumes. It is unlikely that council would consider closing or downgrading Adelaide Place, and the traffic volume on this road would be expected to increase since drivers are likely to use this route to avoid Liverpool Street. Such increases in traffic will exacerbate existing congestion levels during peak periods and result in pedestrians having to cross a greater traffic volume. This is exactly why the new police and courts complex needs to be moved to a less congested part of town, as I have repeatedly suggested to the minister. These issues are also detailed in other reports commissioned by the state government, but they have not been properly taken into account by the minister and Planning SA. In his letter to the council announcing approval of the development, the minister's delegate, Simon Howes, merely said that it would provide car parking on the land for staff. But what about all the other people who visit the police station and courts during the course of the day? There is no mention where they will park. The department of education also contracted Janet Gould & Associates to compile a demographic overview of Port Lincoln. It found that the city and surrounding catchment area were characterised by continued high urban and economic growth and increasing demand for land. The report, which was completed in September 2003, predicted that the city's population would increase from 13 250 in 2001 to only 13 300 in 2006, yet the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that Port Lincoln already has exceeded the prediction in 2003 with a population of 14 270. Our parking problems are only going to get worse unless we have some forward thinking, such as relocating at least some of the central schools and relocating the police station and courts to a greenfield site on Porter Street. This a much larger site than the one occupied by the current police station and would enable collocation of the MFS/CFS/SES headquarters and the Child, Youth and Family Services facility in Port Lincoln, all of which also need to be updated. There is enormous demand for commercial sites in the city and the current block could possibly be sold for about $6 million, which could be used to build the new facility. The Porter Street site could offer better access for vehicles and the public and more spaces for parking. It is flat, and Porter Street has dual lanes and good traffic flow. This area is part of the city's growing business district and is more centrally located in the town, given that it is close to the enormous Lincoln Cove Marina and adjacent to a roundabout that is the confluence of the city's arterial roads. Building a new facility on a new site would mean that the police and court staff could continue working where they are until it is complete, which would again save money. The larger site would allow for a single storey complex in contrast to the proposed building on the present site, which has to be multistorey and which will incur the additional cost of stairs and lifts. Further savings could be made by collocating the police courts with the CFS, SES— Time expired. |
E-mail address: flinders.portlincoln@parliament.sa.gov.au
|
