The “car park’’ at Edmondson Park railway station starts just metres into Soldiers Parade, which is a left turn off Campbelltown Road.
A full line of cars are parked on both sides of the road and only stop at the No Parking sign 50 metres across from the entrance to the station.
The car parks either side of the station are full to overflowing, with cars parked on the kerb.
Regular commuters will know the above scene very, very well, because it’s something they see every day between Monday and Friday.
It’s no exaggeration to call it a commuter car parking crisis as two local Labor MPs and one mayor did today at a 4pm media call held at Edmondson Park station.
This is a major issues affecting all commuters on the Campbelltown line no matter where their local station is.
Macarthur, Campbelltown, Leumeah, Minto, Ingleburn, Macquarie Fields and Glenfield station are all groaning under the pressure of a lot more commuters than car park spaces.
But it is shocking to see that this is happening at stations like Edmondson Park, which are just three years old.
The mayor of Liverpool, Wendy Waller, speaking at today’s media call, said bad planning was the cause of the problems.
“If they provided the infrastructure such as car parking at the start you wouldn’t have this problem now,’’ Cr Waller said.
Cr Waller, alongside federal Labor MP Anne Stanley and State MP for Macquarie Fields Anoulack Chanthivong, joined forces today to demand that the State Government take urgent action.
They said that the car parking crisis is leaving commuters stranded each day and increasingly frustrated.
Carparks at rail stations are bursting at the seams and full to capacity by 7.30am or even earlier at some of them.
The three Labor members said they had joined forces to demand action because the situation had become so desperate.
The federal member for Werriwa, Anne Stanley, said the shadow Labor ministry was aware of the issue and was looking at ways to contribute to a solution.
Ms Stanley backed the call for State Government expenditure on more car parking spaces along the south west rail line.
Mr Chanthivong said his electorate office is “inundated with complaints from commuters who are fed up with not being able to park at the station, whether it’s Edmondson Park, Glenfield or Minto’’.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Commuter carparks are a necessity, not a luxury,” he said.[/social_quote]
“Edmondson Park is a suburb that continues to grow and bear the brunt of much of south west Sydney’s urban sprawl.
“The commuter car parking crisis is only set to worsen with new houses and new estates being built every day,’’ he said.
“It is clear from this diabolical shambles that the Liberal Government did not have a plan for the future growth of Edmondson Park. Nor did they have a plan for vital infrastructure to support that growth.
“The car park at Edmondson Park Station is severely inadequate given the suburb’s growth and, rightly, residents are up in arms.
“Edmondson Park highlights the acute shortage of commuter car parking along the south west Sydney rail corridor, and it’s simply not good enough.
“If the government is serious about reducing congestion on our roads and serious about encouraging people to use public transport, then they have got to get serious about funding extra commuter car parking spaces for the hard working people of south west Sydney.
“This government makes a windfall in stamp duty from our residents, yet fails to deliver on key infrastructure. It’s appalling.
“I demand that the Liberal Government urgently address commuter car parking at Edmondson Park Station and along the south west Sydney corridor, and make it a priority in this year’s State Budget,” Mr Chanthivong said.
His office supplied figures which showed residential property transactions in Edmondson Park generated more than $38 million in stamp duty revenue between 2015 and 2017.
“We just want our fair share and it starts here with extra car parking for our hard working commuters,’’ Mr Chanthivong said.
That’s the problem with ctown more houses and more people and more car but no new carparks or roads
Still waiting for the multi story carpark at Campbelltown station. Once the LNP lost the election that got forgotten..