A $90 million student accommodation project in Brisbane's west will ditch resident car parking in favour of car-sharing, an Uber set-down bay and more than 200 bicycle parks.
The Alexander project at 25 Archer Street, Toowong, was approved by Brisbane City Council on Thursday and is the first council approval to have a council-enforced requirement to include a recognised car-sharing scheme for residents.
The Azure Property Group's 15-storey development will have 555 rooms with 592 beds and 58 parking spaces, with 20 of these dedicated to car sharing.
The remaining 38 car parking spaces will be visitor car parking spaces. There will also be 238 bicycle parking spaces.
Azure Property Group director Trent Keirnan said the car sharing scheme was part of a broader sustainable transport strategy for the development.
"We recognise that students these days very rarely need full-time personal transport, particularly with the multiple public transport options available within a short stroll from the project," Mr Keirnan said.
"More sustainable means of transport offerings are being requested by operators of student accommodation facilities broadly.
"The car-sharing scheme also helps to reduce the number of cars on the roads in the local area, assisting to ease traffic congestion."
The development application was first submitted to the council on November 4, 2016, and during its assessment received more than 90 public submissions.
JFP Urban Consultants made a submission on behalf of Archer Street residents that said the proposal represented a significant overdevelopment of the site.
"The significant lack of car parking is also a central concern that must be addressed further," the submissions said.
"Our clients have serious concerns about the lack of suitable car parking needed to service the proposed development.
"Our clients have also advised that there are existing parking problems within this part of Toowong.
"Any parking relaxation would only exacerbate these problems."
The council's city planning boss Julian Simmonds said car share schemes were the perfect fit for student accommodation.
"Council understands that most students have limited need for individual vehicles, particularly in locations such as this where the Regatta CityCat Terminal,Toowong Rail Station, the Bicentennial Bikeway and frequent bus services are all available nearby," Cr Simmonds said.
"The introduction of car-sharing initiatives was a key recommendation of the Parking Taskforce, which identified ways to manage on-street parking in the inner city."
Cr Simmonds said a number of changes had been made to the original plans through the assessment process, including larger communal areas for students, requirements for established trees to be planted in landscaping and improved design.
University of Queensland lecturer and expert in urban design and transportation Dorina Pojani said she considered the car sharing scheme a good idea but thought it would likely be a short-term solution as driverless cars would soon be available.
"I think on principle it's a really good idea because we need to prepare our cities for what's coming, so that's one way to repurpose things or not allocate as much parking space anymore because it just simply will not be needed," Dr Pojani said.
"If we want to make Brisbane more sustainable we need to regulate and restrict car ownership and car use to some extent.
"Other places have been doing this for much longer than we have so it's time for us to also catch up.
"It might be the case with Brisbane – because we haven't done car-sharing so much before we might end up going straight to driverless cars, that's also possible."
The development is due for completion in early 2019.
0 comments
New User? Sign up