Council provides special parking bays for families with pramsSpecial parking bays for parents and carers with prams and pushchairs are being trialed in Franklin Street Traralgon By Latrobe City Council - 6th April 2001 - Back to News Special parking bays for parents and carers loading and unloading prams and pushchairs from their vehicles are being trialed in Franklin Street Traralgon by Latrobe City Council.
Councillor Lisa Proctor who has advocated for the introduction of ‘pram bays’ in Latrobe’s Central Business Districts (CBD’s), said the Traralgon trial would be monitored and assessed with a view to extending the introduction of the bays into Moe and Morwell.
"Council has recognised that normal parking bay widths pose problems for parents and carers with young families, particularly where one or more children needs a pram or pusher. There is seldom enough room with normal width parking bays to place a pram next to a vehicle without compromising safety in some way or other," Cr Proctor explained.
"Sometimes parents are fortunate enough to find an adjacent empty parking space when they park, which allows them room to set up a pram alongside, and organise children; but they run the risk of other vehicles wanting access to the free space. More frequently the space has gone when they return to their vehicle and they face a difficult task to get children and the pram or pushchair loaded back into the vehicle," Cr Proctor said.
"By providing some extra wide bays in the CBD, parents and carers with babies and young children will find the task of taking their children with them, shopping or visiting services in the centre of town, so much easier and far less stressful.
Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Brendan Jenkins, said the need for family bays had been identified in a survey undertaken by the PRISM Project facilitated by Latrobe City Council in 2000.
"The survey showed that 67% of mothers interviewed by PRISM experienced difficulties with parking in the CBD areas, so Council moved to resolve the issue," Cr Jenkins said.
"The family parking bays are for the exclusive use of vehicles where a pram or pusher for accompanying children is to be off-loaded or loaded into a vehicle. A time limit of one hour applies, which is the same as the time limit imposed on adjacent normal sized bays," Cr Jenkins explained.
"As with loading zones and disabled parking bays, it is an offence for these bays to be used by those people not entitled to use them. The family bays will be clearly marked on adjacent signs, and Council’s Local Laws officers will be monitoring the use of these bays in the same way they monitor no standing areas, loading zones and disabled parking bays, Cr Jenkins said.
"The provision of family parking bays is a further step towards providing better and fairer access for all citizens throughout the community. A baby changing facility was created in Morwell’s CBD late last year, and Council is currently reviewing the service it delivers through its Maternal and Child Health Centres to ensure the needs of today’s families is being met," Cr Jenkins concluded.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: latrobecity@gippslander.com

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