It was reported in The Sunday Times today that a
controversial proposal has been put forward for public consultation in Sydney to allow apartment
buildings to be built without any parking spaces for cars, amid the soaring
property prices and growing traffic congestion within the city.
The proposal would apply
to new developments within 400m of transport hubs such as railway stations, bus
interchanges and light rail stop. The rules would not apply to the entire city
but to 22 designated council areas, which are mainly densely populated and in
the inner city.
The state government of New South Wales has
claimed that the change will help to cut up to A$50,000 from property prices.
However, the move has triggered
anger in some quarters, with critics saying that Sydney 's public transport is not good enough
and many people will be left with cars for which they are unable to find places
to park.
But property developers
and some architects welcomed the cost reduction for new developments, noting
that building underground parking is often the most expensive part of the
construction costs.
After the reading
report, the question that comes to mind is: will similar proposal garner enough
traction in Singapore ?
Our public transport system, despite its fair share of woes (the wife and I
have lost track of how many times the MRT had broken down in the past 6 months),
is fairly well-connected around the island. So allowing new residential
projects within 400m of transport facilities (bus interchange, LRT and MRT
stations etc) may actually be an option. But with our "car crazy"
population whereby many household owns one (or more) cars, many home owners/prospective
home buyers (including yours truly) are already bemoaning the fact that most
new developments these days only cater to one car per household at most. So
god forbids allowing developers of new projects to not provide parking
facilities within their developments!
Having said that, the
concept of "no parking facility within a residential development" is not
entirely new to Singapore .
The wife and I recalled visiting the sales gallery of The Rochester
condo (at Bouna Vista) some years back, where we were told that the development does
not provide parking facilities. Car owners will have to try their luck in
getting season parking from the mall across the road.
The wife and I would like
to hear what our readers think about the concept of "no parking facility in
your condo". Is this something that you can/cannot accept?
Dont think I will accept, but if its a theme based project targeting young singles and near MRT, with a good price - maybe it will work...?
ReplyDelete- Kenny
Will accept if ;
ReplyDelete1) psf priced reasonably n near MRT
2) parking spaces near condo
3) shuttle services to nearby menities
Definitely won't accept as this is even worse than HDB which offers you the option of purchasing season parking. Unless the developers are wiling to sell at prices closer to that of flats..?!?
ReplyDelete