May 20, 2020
South Burnett Regional Council has given staff the go-ahead to proceed with a major upgrade of Kingaroy’s Alford Street car park.
However, work will not begin until the 2020-21 financial year, more than two years after the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce identified the project as its top priority for the revitalisation of the town’s CBD.
At Wednesday’s monthly meeting, Councillors adopted a final design for the car park and accepted a recommendation to set the project’s delivery date in the upcoming fiscal year.
When completed, the refurbished car park will feature two caravan/trailer parking bays; disabled parking bays; a dump point; and provision for the future installation of electric chargers.
The project was first announced in January 2020 and was put out to public consultation from February 14-28.
This drew eight written responses covering 14 topics ranging from tree planting to Rail Trail access.
Infrastructure General Manager Aaron Meehan told the meeting issues raised during the public consultation period had been used to inform the final design.
He said Council staff had also developed an alternative design for the upgrade that included angled parking.
However, they were forced to set this idea aside when analysis disclosed that design would reduce the number of parking bays by 25.
Early thoughts about installing electric vehicle chargers as part of the upgrade have also been modified due to cost considerations.
Instead, the upgrade will make provision for chargers to be easily installed at some future time if it becomes economically sound to do so.
Mr Meehan said all businesses affected by the car park upgrade would be advised before work began in an effort to minimise disruption.
The car park will not be available for public use while the upgrade is carried out.
Mayor Brett Otto, whose accountancy business backs on to the car park, excused himself from the meeting before the matter was discussed.
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