WOODBRIDGE residents are petitioning against a City of Swan council decision made last year which went against the officer’s recommendation and seeks to install an extra 12 bays at Woodbridge Riverside Park.

Woodbridge Residents Association president Lynn Deering tabled the petition against the additional 12 bays on behalf of Woodbridge residents at the city’s March 13 ordinary council meeting.

She said the proposal for an additional 12 bays was flawed and jeopardised the parks future as an all-abilities park if pursued.

“The petition requests council to halt works on the 12 overflow car bays proposed at Woodbridge Riverside Park and go back to the original playground design principles and proposal, including consulting with residents and key stakeholders,” she said.

The decision to install the 12 bays at the park was made at the July 12, 2023, City of Swan ordinary council meeting.

In the meeting minutes, the officer’s recommendation was that the city include $40,000 for an additional five bays at the park in the 2024-25 draft capital budget.

But councillors instead unanimously supported councillor Rashelle Predovnik’s motion to put an additional 12 parking bays in the south-eastern corner of the park.

The motion, which was seconded by councillor Cate McCullough, instead proposed to include $135,000 in the draft 2024-25 budget for construction of the 12 bays.

The meeting minutes record the reason for the change being that “users of the park can’t find parking during peak times and the request has been made for an increase in parking – not for existing parking bays to be repurposed.”

Prior to this, at the November 2, 2022, ordinary council meeting, the City of Swan had received a petition containing 509 signatures noting parking problems at the park, which mostly occurred when a park run event was held there on Saturdays.

The minutes note that the park run event attracted up to 260 participants with the current facilities not catering to peak demands.

The minutes also note that City of Swan had liaised with Governor Stirling Senior High School about the possibility of using the school’s carpark as overflow parking.

Governor Stirling Senior High School principal Leo Surjan confirmed that the City of Swan had been in contact with the school about the use of the bays, and that he had allowed the school’s bays to be used for overflow parking on the weekends and during the school holidays.

City of Swan Mayor Tanya Richardson said some planning works have been done on the 12 bays, but construction has not started.

“The project stemmed from a petition with 509 signatures from the community asking for additional parking at Woodbridge Riverside Park," she said.

“The extra parking was requested to alleviate demand on weekends and school holidays.”