By Cimara Pearce
BRIMBANK City Council has again been embroiled in claims of factionalism, following a heated council meeting last week.
A fiery debate over where to put more parking spots in St Albans resulted in a divided council and saw Cr Stuart Miller accuse other councillors of being involved in factions.
After losing his motion for the preferred option for the site of the new car parks, Cr Miller said, “There you go – factions still exist”, sending a wave of fury through the chamber.
Councillors had been asked to discuss two car park options for the St Albans shopping precinct.
Option one was to create 32 new car parks along the central median of Alfrieda St, north of the Linda St intersection, while option two was to locate 20 parks along Linda St and Victoria Crescent, just off Alfrieda St.
Council officers had recommended that councillors approve and adopt option two as the preferred option for increasing car parking in the Alfrieda St precinct.
But an alternate motion put forward by Cr Robert Shamon to adopt option one saw controversy explode in the chambers.
Cr Shamon said he believed option one was better than option two because it would create more car parks and would be safer for the community on a main road that was well lit.
“Last year there were 708 parking fines in Alfrieda St issued. This may be a bonus for council but it’s not good for the community and businesses,” Cr Shamon told the meeting.
“People are put off from shopping in Alfrieda St because of this (the parking problem). This isn’t good because we want to be encouraging people to come here, not driving them away.”
Cr Shamon said residents had told him they would be uncomfortable with parking away from Alfrieda St because they would feel unsafe.
Cr Miller spoke passionately against the alternative motion arguing that it would disfigure the streetscape of Alfrieda St and that it would infringe on residential areas.
Cr Shamon’s alternative motion for option one was passed, but the uproar surrounding the debate led to a call for order and for councillors to control themselves by Mayor Troy Atanasovski.
Cr Shamon told Star he had been disappointed by Cr Miller’s comments and had been equally disappointed that the council officers had recommended option two in the first place.
The council has allocated $200,000 for the new car park as part of the St Albans Public Realm Improvement project.
