Despite the village’s new streetscaping, Fish Creek residents say they are grappling with persistent parking shortages as the works near completion and the busy summer season looms.
A community meeting on 10 December brought to light strong opinions about the future of the town's tennis courts. A part of the fence around the courts was recently removed by Council for maintenance, stayed down during the Fishy Stories festival, and has since remained open—leading many residents to start parking on the courts.
Around 50 people gathered at Fish Creek Hall to discuss the future of the courts and parking options in the town.
After spirited discussion, attendees voted on three short-term options for the summer: no parking, full parking, or a half-and-half compromise with a barricade. The meeting chose the compromise option.
However, the very next day, the Fish Creek Community Development Group (FCCDG) met with Sophie Thomas, Project Manager of the roadworks on behalf of Council, who delivered different news.
"They're going to put the fence panel back up, so there will be no parking in the short-term,” FCCDG’s President Helen Sammonds reported, adding that she was told this was for insurance reasons and because the courts are zoned as recreational, and legally can’t be used as a car park.
The group says it will advocate to Council for the maximum amount of short-term and time-limited parking bays to help address the shortage.
Ms Sammonds also said the group will organise another town meeting in mid-February once residents have experienced what summer parking was like with the new streetscaping in place.
"Our next committee meeting is in mid-February and at that meeting, we'll organise another town meeting, because by then we'll have a sense of what the summer was like, and where to go from there," Ms Sammonds said.
The Fish Creek town plan for the tennis courts indicates they should remain recreational space. Council has said it won't maintain them as tennis courts since there are already additional courts at the football oval. Community suggestions for alternative uses include a bocce court, skate park, basketball court, table tennis area, sculpture installation, or pickleball courts.
FCCDG has also prepared a budget submission to Council for the next financial year to improve the road between the park and service station, addressing dangerous conditions where passengers are jumping into ditches when exiting vehicles. The proposal includes improving gutters and creating angle parking. The outcome of the submission will be known in April next year.
Ms Sammonds says receiving funding for improvements to the service road and area south of the rail trail “will do a lot to alleviate the problem that we face at peak times.” Cara Schultz
