Today’s Melbourne Bayside Weekly –
Sporting chance for parkers
bridget.fitzgerald@fairfaxmedia.com.au
A SHORTAGE of car park space at the new Glen Eira Sports and Aquatic Centre is causing problems for users of a neighbouring sports ground.
Soccer club members who use Bailey Reserve, on East Boundary Road, are being forced to park in neighbouring streets because of a lack of spaces.
Glen Eira Moorabbin Softball Association president Ian Bahn believes the problem will worsen when the softball season starts in October. “Our season hasn’t started yet, but we have been down to Bailey Reserve to have meetings, and seen that it [parking] is going to be a problem,” Mr Bahn said. “Come summer, when it gets busier with people using the pool and the ground, it’s going to be very interesting.”
GESAC opened on May 7. Despite opening four months late because of building delays it reached a membership of 4000 on its first day. Glen Eira council spokesman Paul Burke said limited parking was proving to be an issue. “We now have about 5700 members. The problem is that these members are still getting used to how they use the facility and are still creating a routine,” Mr Burke said.
Adding to the shortage, some Bailey Reserve car park spaces were lost during construction of the new facility. East Bentleigh Soccer Club is the primary winter tenant of the ground. Club secretary Chris Loose said parking was an issue. “We have had members of our club making other arrangements, parking in surrounding streets, on East Boundary Road, or walking – but that is obviously not so desirable in winter,” he said. Mr Loose said the club had notified the council of the issue and believed GESAC and Bailey Reserve tenants could work together to find a solution.
Glen Eira Debates 
July 9, 2012 at 11:54 AM
I’ve a suggestion. Let’s turn the whole place into a carpark. It was only half done when Newton got Lipshutz to extend the planned car park. Sacrifice a few clubs and local residents and then the claim that this is the most successful centre in the world can continue.
How on earth a monstrosity like this could be built without public transport and without proper planning is beyond me. We have total incompetents running the place.
July 9, 2012 at 12:39 PM
It’s gonna get worse and worse. Developments are springing up like mushrooms all along East Boundary Road. Figure in Clover and only left hand turns into the main road and you’ve got total gridlock made worse by the traffic lights outside gesac. I wouldn’t want to live within cooee of this area. LIke everything else Newton and Akehurst and their toadies do, local amenity is shot to pieces.
July 9, 2012 at 3:06 PM
a few comments in general – whilst Glen Eira Debates maintains a negative stance on seemingly all issues against all in Council it will remain an irrelevant sideshow to the bigger more importment issue of governing at a local govt level-a few tips – stop being the Frank Pennhallurick media arm – stop being a quasi Save our Suburbs mouthpiece – start taking a balanced and moderate view of whats happenning in our fair city
July 9, 2012 at 3:40 PM
A very strange comment indeed! “Governing” and governing properly I would say has always been the focus of this site. Click on the tag “governance” and you’ll find hundreds and hundreds of posts that come under this category. The problem with people like you is that you refuse to admit that there is anything wrong with this council. I on the other hand would lean heavily to the other side and claim that when it comes to fair dinkum consultation the public simply don’t matter; planning is out of control and councillors for the past 12 years have not been able to break the stranglehold of the administration. The unquestionable result is that residents have no voice on council and what decisions are made are not in their best interests. The only way to arrest this slide into disaster is to voice our strongest disapproval in October by voting out the vast majority of these councillors and ensuring that candidates who are truly community minded are elected. The next important phase will then occur – the ousting of Newton and all senior directors. Then Glen Eira council can start governing in a way that the law really intended and which people are cring out for.
I’d also suggest that instead of sniping away at the site you actually start thinking about the criticisms and acknowledging their validity. Or even better, just don’t read the posts or bother to comment. If Glen Eira Debates is such an irrelevance, I’m sure your absence will not be missed.
July 9, 2012 at 8:03 PM
May I point out Anonymous that Local Government, unlike the other two tiers of government (Federal and State) does not have a viable opposition. This website provides that and judging bypopularity of this website and the Glen Eira Residents website there is an amazing number of residents out there who disagree you.
Councillor’s and the Administration’s persistence in full steam ahead regardless of what the residents are saying is akin to committing hari kari.
As for a balanced and moderate view – tell that to those unforunates who live the housing diversity areas none of which have been clearly defined – if there was clear definition then Council would have to explain why the definitions keep on changing
July 9, 2012 at 8:38 PM
Anonymous it is not Glen Eira Debates which is negative the article above reported from the Bayside Weekly magazine. Glen Eira Debates reports. If you have any positive reports from GE Council please also report them in this blog.
July 9, 2012 at 9:42 PM
Andrew Newton and Paul Burke are great civic leaders of Glen Eira and have amazing intellect………bahahahahaha …..bahahahahaha ………..Bahahahaha……….
July 9, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Courts 2 & 3 are often empty. Maybe the door at the end could be opened and all the small cars let in….$5 entry of course!
July 9, 2012 at 6:39 PM
Parking meters next on the shopping list. They’re always complaining they don’t make enough from parking.
July 9, 2012 at 7:11 PM
Interesting I noticed there is a huge pile of mulch inside the stables in Neerim Road. Is the council storing some of it here. I thought the council doesnt read this blog because I suggested this would be a good place. How did they convince the MRC to let them use the crown land for this purpose. Also if anyone is interested the Neerim Road gate which you can access glenhuntly PArk is quite often closed. A secret way thought to Neerim is to put something metallic in the squares outside the gates leading to Neerim Road. This will open the gates!
July 9, 2012 at 7:43 PM
Jees, just listen to Burkie – implying it’s only temporary and because it’s only temporary (mind you we have not done an analysis to determine it’s only temporary) we ain’t doing anything about it!!!
July 9, 2012 at 7:48 PM
I’m wondering what is the arrrangement for parking in the GESAC parking area. Is it restricted parking i.e. 3 hr limit? Do staff get priority parking? Council have obviously created a monster issue because they didn’t properly plan (why else the rushed, clearly inadequate parking extension that cost a squillion? Residents should be asking to see the Local Area Traffic Management Plan (LATM).
July 9, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Gesac should have been built at Caulfield Racecourse on the Tabaret carpark which the MRC no longer needs. Monash would have booked it out, it’s in a central location for the community and opposite Caulfield Station. However a short sighted Council and Administration got in the way. There will always be parking issues where it is currently located. Will end up like Waverley Park and knocked down in 10 years. Bookmark it.
July 9, 2012 at 9:26 PM
The question of where this complex should have been built is irrelevant now. I keep wondering if the original parking scheme was an intentional ruse so that the final vision wouldn’t get up too many people’s noses. Or it really tells us how lousy the entire planning was from the very beginning. They kept forecasting 500,000 visitors per year. Any decent traffic department would then know how many spaces are required. Hyams argument was that other sporting clubs needed the expanded car park. Well what has he got to say now when we learn that even with an extra million dollars spent it still isn’t enough and never will be.
This reminds me of the traffic debacle that will be the c60 result. No consideration whatsoever given to local residential streets.
July 12, 2012 at 1:20 AM
Maybe, now we have this monstricity the council should organise a cpommunity bus service to transport patrons fromm North Caulfield area who wuld need to buy train tichets for two zones and all day as the walk to pool would take one hour each way. PORT pHILLIP HAS COMMUNITY BUSES. Maybe our residents dhould continue to use Harold Holt as a single zone ticket would be ok.
As for the parking congestion … at yet one of those other community “consultation” meetings one person informed them of the need for more parking when forwarding an educated estimate as to the rewuirement for the basket ball court useage. As usual councillors did not listen…. so who is to blame?