With our offices based in Mosman, it has been impossible for us not to notice the debate currently underway between residents and the Council, following their proposal to install parking meters at Balmoral Beach.
Leaving aside the obvious dilemma of who pays for parking, we did come across an interesting article published this week detailing correspondence on the subject of parking meters between a part-time student and local resident and a Mosman councillor. We reproduce the correspondence as published below, names withheld.
The student wrote to the councillor, complaining that the proposed parking scheme would leave him unable to park a car used for his gardening business. The councillor replied sagely that “whenever there is a change, whether it is the closure of a factory or the building of a dam, those impacted by the change need to be given assistance to adjust” and proceeded to suggest that the entire family could move out of the area or “resume some of the family garden to make more offstreet parking”. The councilor, who in the letter admits some of the ideas are “outrageous”, also advises the author that he could “sue the council for the increased costs it will impose on your gardening business”. The letter ends on a historical note: “It makes you feel for those families in North Sydney that were tipped out of their houses in 1928 to make way for the Harbour Bridge, doesn’t it?”
Parking Consultants International declines to comment.