A local resident action group is calling for community support to stop Ku-ring-gai Council from selling the Culworth Avenue car park at Killara Station.
According to ‘Citizens Against Reduced Parking at Railway Killara’ (CARPARK) Ku-ring-gai Council might sell the car park to a high-rise developer in order to pay for its new $29.8 million administrative building in Gordon.
This comes after the council’s announcement of upgrades to parking at Gordon and Lindfield train stations.
Construction at Gordon is due to commence this month, and will see the installation of 30 extra car park spaces.
The upgrade at Lindfield is currently only in early stages of design, but is expected to commence in 2014 and will include a new car park with 240 commuter spaces and a new ‘kiss and ride’ zone.
However, improvements at Gordon and Lindfield will not counteract the loss to Killara residents. If the car park were to be demolished commuters may have to park as far as 1.5km from the train station.
This means that residents may have cars parked outside their homes for as much as 12 hours a day. Furthermore, this means that commuters with mobility issues will have to use another station.
The council argues that a review of previous reports has indicated that when the land was purchased in 1959 it was intended to be the site of a civic centre including an office, a baby health centre, a library and a community hall. The use of the land as a car park in 1966 was only intended to be temporary.
However, the potential construction of a high-rise residential and commercial development on the site could generate increased traffic and compound the problems caused by taking this facility away.
A public meeting was held on October 24.
By Jessie Goldie
