A community group in Fish Creek, a small town in South Gippsland, are concerned about the local council’s plan to remove carparks from the town’s centre, with some residents worried the move could worsen existing parking pressures.
Cars line Falls Road in Fish Creek. Photo: George Nicoll
Works are expected to begin on the Fish Creek streetscape project any day now after previously being scheduled for February, but Fish Creek Community and Development Group (FCCDG) committee member Helen Sammonds is concerned that the project could do more harm than good.
“Parking is already a huge issue in Fish Creek, and I think it’s going to get worse,” she says.
The South Gippsland Shire Council’s plan involves the removal of the carpark that loops around the cenotaph on Falls Road, replacing it with roadside parallel parking. This would reduce the number of car spaces in the area from around ten to just four.
While Ms Sammonds says the streetscape redevelopment will make parking in Fish Creek “a bit more chaotic,” South Gippsland Mayor John Schelling acknowledges that parking is an issue in Fish Creek but says that the project will improve accessibility.
“It’s not going to increase the amount of car spots, but it is going to make it easier for people to park,” he says.
Cr Schelling says there is always plenty of carparks available if you know where to look. “There’s a heap of parking down in Terrill Park, but people just don’t seem to want to walk. They want to sit down and have their breakfast or their cup of coffee and then drive away.”
Ms Sammonds, who is a co-owner of the HandMakers Store on Falls Road, agrees that visitors to Fish Creek tend to have a somewhat “lazy” attitude when it comes to parking. “People drive through and if they can stop easily, they will, but if it seems like parking’s difficult, then they’ll just drive on.”
Ms Sammonds is concerned that the community and development group’s issues with the parking situation have not been taken seriously by the council. “We approached council in, I reckon 2021, about parking because in the busy season it’s just ridiculous. They said we were the next town to get streetscaping done and to wait until then for parking to be dealt with.”
In the years since 2021, works have begun on revamping Korumburra’s main street while Fish Creek’s project has been delayed multiple times, with additional parking not included in the final plan.
While Ms Sammonds says parking is the “main thing” that the FCCDG are concerned about in town, Cr Schelling says that the council has a different priority. “Fish Creek is really constrained by its sewerage system, it can’t grow, so that’s probably of greater importance to us than the amount of parking,” he says.
“There’s been trials done, but no one’s come up with a real adequate answer as to how (a sewerage upgrade) can be done without costing the shopkeepers tens of thousands of dollars. There’s not the sort of money around Fish Creek to make that work.”
Ms Sammonds says sewerage is an important issue on FCCDG’s agenda but laments that the group has received “little support from council” on the issue. She says that the group have been “moving the process forward” alone and have met with federal election candidates to advocate for funding for a better sewerage system.
The streetscape project is scheduled to be completed by December, just in time for the next tourist season. But with visitor numbers expected to continue rising, long-term questions around parking and infrastructure remain unresolved.
Tell us what you think about the plan: https://forms.gle/o52QRNiiVQ8fpmpf8
