Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation)Wednesday, March 24, 2010 Second ReadingI am pleased to speak this evening on the Transport Legislation Amendment (Compliance, Enforcement and Regulation) Bill 2010. It is an omnibus bill which makes changes to existing rail, bus, taxi, marine and port regulatory schemes. I want to focus on a particular issue that relates to my electorate of Doncaster. The second-reading speech talks about provision being made in the bill for warning notices to be left on vehicles in designated park-and-ride facilities, giving early notice of breaches of parking restrictions to station car park users. I want to talk about the focus on legislation and compliance versus the need to expand these services, particularly in my electorate. There is a park-and-ride facility in Doncaster.
It was opened in 2003 and has proved to be particularly popular, so much so that it is full from very early in the morning with up to 400 commuters leaving their vehicles and using buses to get to the city. Residents tell me that it is full by 7.45 a.m. and that they are unable to park there during the day. I often receive complaints about the non-availability of parking spaces from commuters who are unable to park in the facility, and residents are very concerned because commuters who are unable to park at the facility leave their cars in nearby narrow streets. Recognising that the park-and-ride facility is at capacity, more than two years ago the government sought the opinion of the Manningham City Council on options to further develop the Doncaster park and ride, and three options were suggested.
One was to provide a multideck over the existing park and ride to create another 400 spaces, and other sites were considered, such as Kampman Reserve between Kampman Street, Thompsons Road and the Eastern Freeway in Bulleen to create about 110 spaces, and the former Bulleen drive-in site which could hold about 600 car parking spaces. The council duly submitted these proposals to government, and two years have now passed. Like our bus review, which we are still waiting for, nothing has happened. Despite dollars being identified in Meeting Our Transport Challenges for additional park-and-ride facilities in Doncaster, we have not seen any change. All that has happened during this time is the introduction of a bike cage for commuters, a facility which, while delighting an upper house member for the area, appears to be underutilised.
What we have today is a bill that covers many areas but particularly focuses, in its park-and-ride aspect, on compliance and on fining people who are not using the facilities instead of the broader policy commitment this government has made to expanding the services and making sure the services we have meet the needs of the Doncaster community. The government has a compliance focus, and we have been waiting for a long time. Unfortunately Doncaster residents continue to wait. Commuters, in good faith, are waiting for delivery from this government, and the public transport travelling public continue to wait as well. Now all we will get is warnings about our non-compliance if we are not parking in the right spot. How is that going to encourage people to use public transport, use the facility and make sure that we get cars off the road.
It seems the government is pinning its hopes on the introduction of high frequency buses due in about 12 months time and it is saying it will need to reduce the use of park-and-ride options as a result. It is also going to expand the kiss-and-ride facility on Thompsons Road near the freeway, but that does not address the needs of people in Doncaster who are very concerned that the Doncaster park and ride is at capacity and this bill will only enable compliance notices in relation to people who try to use the facility but cannot find a spot and need to park elsewhere. As many other members have mentioned, unfortunately this bill does not look at the broader policy aspects and does not ensure that the policy of the government is being implemented. Instead it is very narrowly focused on the compliance, not on the delivery of important services for people to enjoy and use public transport and park-and-ride facilities, in particular for my community in Doncaster.
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