Lake Macquarie Electorate Commuter Car Parks

Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie) (22:19): I have got some serious questions that warrant serious answers from Transport for NSW. Quite a while ago—in fact, back in 2019—I commissioned concept designs for multi-level commuter car parks at Morisset train station and identified that Fassifern and Cardiff train stations were in need of multi-level carparks. That action was in direct response to growing community frustration about the severe lack of parking at major commuter hubs in my electorate. I had some very productive conversations with the then Minister for Regional Transport and Roads about the need for more parking at these strategically located stations, and he was very supportive.

In the 2021-22 budget, it appeared the proposed multi-level commuter car parks were progressing under the Commuter Car Park Program.Budget Paper No. 3 - Infrastructure Statement stated that funded projects included "business cases to support additional car spaces at Morisset, Fassifern and Cardiff stations." What happened to those funded business cases is anybody's guess. I have not seen them and do not know if they were completed. If they were completed, where are they? If they were not completed, why not? And where did those taxpayer funds get reallocated to? What is even more concerning is that since those business cases were funded, there has been zero progress on building multi-level carparks at any station in my electorate. In fact, building commuter car parks at Morisset and Fassifern stations seems to have disappeared from the Government's agenda.

Make no mistake, this Government is continuing to fund and build commuter car parking stations under the newly named Safe Accessible Transport program. That is fantastic for those areas. But the Morisset and Fassifern commuter car parks have apparently disappeared off the agenda. That makes absolutely no sense. Lake Macquarie is one of the State's major growth areas, with some 219,000 people calling the local government area home. Lake Macquarie is the third largest regional city in the State, and our population is predicted to grow by 39,000 by 2041. I suspect it will be more than that. The electorate of Lake Macquarie has been identified for multiple transport oriented development [TOD] precincts.

Morisset itself has been identified as a TOD precinct and the town is identified in the Hunter Regional Plan 2036 as a strategic centre and growth area. It makes sense to have the infrastructure needed to support this planned growth in place before it happens. According to Transport for NSW's business paper entitledDelivering sustainable transport options, dated November 2023, the department aims to improve accessibility to reduce reliance on cars. The paper also talks about the benefits of commuter car parks at Revesby and Riverwood. It mentions the installation of rooftop solar panels and climate-resilient designs, with electricity generated from the solar panels powering the stations' lifts and lights, with the capacity to support future EV charging infrastructure. Multi-level car parks at Morisset and Fassifern would be in line with Transport for NSW's goals of reducing road congestion, improving the environment and supporting our community. The paper also states:

This expansion of parking availability encourages more passengers to park their private cars and switch to public transport, effectively reducing their car travel time, road congestion and enhancing air quality by reducing car emissions.

I could not outline my goals any better than that statement. A Newcastle Herald article written in April 2021 reported that Lake Macquarie City Council and Transport for NSW spent a combined $520,000 on resurfacing existing car parking spaces at Fassifern, as well as the installation of a new bus shelter. Whilst that is a welcome improvement, it is a bandaid solution to a much bigger problem. That money would have been better spent making more car parking spaces available, not just improving the surface of existing ones. My constituents are getting increasingly frustrated by the daily difficulty they face trying to find a place to leave their cars so they can catch a train to work. Many do not even bother trying and choose to drive their private vehicles to work instead. That is leading to another problem, with the build-up of peak-hour traffic between the M1 and the township of Morisset becoming a huge bugbear in the community.

As the Government asks the community to accommodate greater population, surely it is not too much to ask for not just answers to the questions but also for actual investment in the clear shortfall of enabling infrastructure. It is unreasonable to propose significant population increases in areas already under population pressure without planning to provide supporting infrastructure. I call on the Minister to provide answers to these inherently reasonable questions. What happened to the business cases that were funded and why has any discussion on such sensible infrastructure seemingly disappeared?