THE BATTLE FOR PARKING

REDLAND BAY: THE BATTLE FOR PARKING

Residents of the Bay Islands have long been struggling with the issue of mainland parking, and with the Weinam Creek PDA construction already underway, the problem is set to worsen. As the population continues to grow, the demand for parking spaces is far outweighing the supply. However, a simple solution could help reduce the number of cars looking for parking spaces and create new ones at the same time: car share. The Bay Islands Car Share program has already removed 250 cars from Redland Bay's streets and unlocked just as many new parking spaces for public use. For every one car in a car share fleet, 10 private vehicles are removed from the road. And with council support, car share could double that number, unlocking 500 new parking spaces - the equivalent of building a second Moores Rd car park overnight! Currently, the car share operates from just eight parking spaces, but it provides transport for 10% of the island's population every month. This means more people are able to get around without relying on their own private vehicles, reducing traffic and parking congestion for everybody. Aaron Pipkorn, the founder of Bay Islands Car Share, is calling upon the council to support the local initiative by providing the additional space needed to keep pace with community demand for the service. He says, "more car sharing can ease the squeeze for everyone living on the Bay Islands." The best part? It won't cost the council a dime to implement this solution. In fact, it would take no time at all to free up those 250 parking spaces tomorrow. All the council needs to do is show their support for car share and its mission to reduce traffic and parking congestion. It's clear that the council is the only one who can provide more parking spaces in Redland Bay. And if they want to help reduce congestion and make life easier for residents, they should throw their support behind car share. Of course, car share programs do require space to operate. But the benefits of reducing traffic and parking congestion far outweigh the small amount of space the car share programs currently use. Plus, if the council were to provide more space for car share programs, they could double the number of cars removed from the road and parking spaces unlocked - a win-win for everyone involved. So the choice is clear: if the council wants to reduce traffic and parking congestion in Redland Bay, they need to support car share. It won't cost a thing, and the benefits are enormous. Let's work together to make Redland Bay a more liveable, less congested place for everyone.

• Cr Mark Edwards and Aaron Popcorn in front of the Bay Island Car Share parking area.