Council asks community for preferences for location of new multi-level parking station

Orange City Council wants to hear where local residents believe is the best location to build a proposed new multi-level car park.

In its long-term planning the Council has allocated $4.5 million in the 2022/23 financial year to build a new multi-level car park, as part of the FutureCity CBD upgrade program.

Orange Mayor Reg Kidd believes now is the time to start a conversation about where it should be built.

“The project is about catering for the future growth of Orange,” Cr Reg Kidd said. “In the decades to come, Orange will be an even larger retail centre for the whole region and that will mean a much larger demand for parking spaces.”

“We’re some time away from any detailed planning, so now’s the time for weighing up the options and seeing which location will give the Orange community the best value for money. There are a number of clear contenders that come up when this topic is discussed by Orange residents, but I’d love to see the community move beyond personal favourites to see if any other sites in Orange are worth considering.”

“It would be great if locals took the time to go to the YourSay Orange site to find out more about some of the options. People can quickly complete an online poll to show their preference or leave a comment.

“For $4.5 million, I imagine we’re looking at a three-or four storey multi-level car park, somewhere right alongside the CBD. Structures like this in other regional centres contain first-floor retail stores or even residential apartments. Contemporary decked car-parks are designed with sensor technology to show where the vacant spaces are. As well as retail shops, they could be venues for under-cover weekend markets. There could be a system to allocate parking on one of the levels to people who work in the CBD.

“There are many options and we’ve don’t yet have the information we’ll need to make a final decision. But the big question remains: What’s the best location?”

The short-list of possible sites includes:

• The ‘Woolies’ car park, between Anson and Sale Streets.
• The ‘Ophir’ car park on the corner of Kite St and Lords Place
• The Civic Centre car park, behind the Council offices in Lords Place
• The vacant block of the former ‘Williams’ rural supply store in Peisley Street
• The Sale St car-park alongside the rear of the Ex-Services Club
• The car park in Little Summer St behind the fire station
• The car park in Endsleigh Avenue opposite the former DPI building.