PARKING on Park Street has been an issue for years and residents are calling for action to make the street safer and more accessible.

Swan Hills Liberal candidate and councillor Rod Henderson, who was not speaking on behalf of the City of Swan, said the Park Street and West Swan Road intersection was complicated by high traffic volumes on West Swan Road, but also by the proximity of three major event venues there.

“The guts of it is you end up with very significant congestion there and there’s even been a number of accidents,” he said.

“Certainly, people complained about that when Bailey’s was proposed, and at the time I proposed that if it were to go ahead, it should be a roundabout at that intersection, albeit that we don’t like roundabouts on our tourist road.

“So, the fundamentals are quite simple – there’s going to have to be some works done at that intersection to make it work.”

Mr Henderson said the parking issue, although located on the same road, was separate to the road traffic issues.

“The parking matter is that clearly the venue doesn’t have enough available parking,” he said.

“From my perspective, if they want to have that many people come to their place, they should make available parking.

“I’ve had a number of emails where people have said that parking is way out of hand.

“And it is – I mean, you can get parking for several hundred meters up and down Park Street occurring.

“Particularly for the residents living there, if someone parks in their driveway or across a gate or something like that, it’s not good enough.

“So I do believe that they should be looking at how they provide for their patrons.”

Fellow Swan Valley/Gidgegannup ward councillor Charlie Zannino, who was not speaking on behalf of the City of Swan, had also heard from residents about the situation on Park Street and agreed the parking and traffic needed reassessment and action.

“This matter might be brought to council, but I’ve heard lots of complaints from residents about it for quite some time now,” he said.

“This will be major work but it does deserve a second look.”

Bailey Brewing Co chief executive officer Tony Williamson said they understood the concerns raised by residents and have been engaging the appropriate people to address it.

“We have been working closely with the City of Swan and the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage (DPLH) to implement a comprehensive parking management plan that ensures all patron vehicles are hosted on our property,” he said.

“This plan has been designed by a traffic engineer in consultation with all parties to minimise congestion and prevent verge parking on Park Street, albeit verge parking on Park Street is not illegal.

“In addition to this, we continually review our parking arrangements to ensure they meet the needs of our patrons while respecting the local community.

“As part of our ongoing efforts, we encourage feedback and maintain open lines of communication with both residents and council members.”

A DPLH spokesperson said preparing a parking management plan was a condition of the Western Australian Planning Commission’s approval of development at Bailey Brewing to manage vehicle access, circulation, and parking at the site.

“The (plan) is required to be implemented by the proponent/operator at the time the proposed development is completed, and the expanded operations commence,” they said.

The City of Swan has been contacted for comment.