Opinion

THE push to improve pedestrian space in Hobart is admirable but it does raise tensions in a city restricted by geography and still overwhelmingly dependent on private cars.

Proposals for more bike tracks, traffic restrictions and the removal of convenient parking spots have been opposed by motorists and businesses. Nowhere is the squeeze being felt more acutely than around the waterfront and Salamanca Place.

These areas have become the focal point of the city for tourists and many locals, with their wonderful mix of boats, shops, restaurants, bars, entertainment, major events and other attractions.

For years the visual appeal of the waterfront has been marred by swathes of long-term car parking but that is changing. Now businesses owners and many others worry that the city is going to the other extreme.

There are plans to build a multi-storey carpark on the empty land at Montpelier Retreat, just behind Salamanca Place, but that proposal is controversial, expensive and several years away from completion, if it happens at all.

Developer Ali Sultan is busy building two new multi-storey carparks in the city centre but in the meantime the waterfront area is facing a parking crunch.

The transformation of Princes Wharf No. 1 Shed into a public exhibition and entertainment venue, with its spacious plaza in front, has greatly reduced the number of handy spaces near Salamanca Market. The University of Tasmania's plan to convert Princes Wharf No. 2 Shed into its $45 million Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies is likely to deprive the area of more.

A report by Danish urban planner Jan Gehl has recommended that parking be removed from Salamanca Place, although nearby businesses have headed off an initial proposal to take spaces from one side of the road.

The pressure for parking continues to build in and around Hobart, with many commuters leaving their cars on the Domain and crowding long-term spots in inner-city streets.

A recent State Government survey of household travel in Greater Hobart reveals that cars still dominate, with 75 per cent of trips involving private motor vehicles, 20 per cent on foot, 4 per cent on public transport and just 1 per cent on bicycles.

More people walk to work here than in many other cities but Greater Hobart is a city of widely scattered suburbs and distant satellite towns, and for those who do not live close to the centre the options are limited.

It would be nice to think that habits might change but that is unlikely without major investments in safe bike tracks or vastly improved public transport services such as more frequent buses, ferries or light rail. With the State Government under budgetary pressure, that seems a distant dream. Cheaper options such as year-round park-and-ride services on market days need to be considered and, if adopted, they should be frequent, attractive and well promoted.

Compared to bigger cities, parking remains very cheap in Hobart but demand and supply is likely to make it less so in the next few years. The luxury of parking wherever we want, for free or very little, could be a thing of the past.

It is very important to offer sufficient parking for those unable to walk long distances but for many others it might be a case of having to get used to walking a little from a carpark to the waterfront or wherever we want to go.