Whittlesea council is expected to announce a short-term solution to the parking crisis at South Morang railway station this week.
Director of advocacy and communications Griff Davis said the council had been liaising with the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, Public Transport Victoria (PTV) and Westfield Group to come up with an agreeable solution for all parties.
He said the council was considering a number of proposals that PTV suggested last week.
The proposals will be made public at some stage this week.
Once a commuter parking solution has been decided upon, Planning Minister Matthew Guy will need to sign off on it before any action is taken.
“I’m confident we’ll come up with a solution this week,” Mr Davis said.
Meanwhile, privately held land at 351-359 McDonalds Road, South Morang, just north of the railway line, has come up for sale.
The Mernda Residents Development Group is urging the council and the state government to buy the land and turn it into a multi-level car park to complement the existing railway station parking.
Group organiser William Sharp said the $5 million price tag would be a small price to pay for such a vital piece of infrastructure. “Someone needs to act quickly and secure it.”
A spokeswoman from the Minister for Public Transport Terry Mulder’s office acknowledged “the sustained demand for car parking at this point in time”.
But she said the McDonalds Road property was unsuitable for commuter parking “as it has been identified in Whittlesea council’s planning scheme as a site for future medium- density residential housing.”
