The SNP Security Officer assigned to the south end of the campus, Ahmed Sarfraz, said the overflow spaces weren't being used as well as they could be.
“Some people just don’t know we’re here,” Mr Sarfraz said. “They can see it from a distance but don’t know how to get here.”Access to the overflow parking is via the gated UC Innovation Centre car park, so a security officer must open the gate and direct students to the grassy parking lot. The grass area can accommodate up to 142 cars but has never been full since it opened.
The UC website shows the location of the overflow car park and states that it will be available during the first two weeks of semester. This has clearly been extended, as it is still in use now, storing 105 cars on Thursday of Week 3 (25 February 2010), indicating that despite diminishing demand, students are still in need of the additional car spaces.
“I think they need more parking,” Sarfraz said. “The students are wasting their time. From what they’ve told me, they drive around for 20 to 30 minutes looking for a park.”
Unable to find suitable parking, students are parking illegally on the verges of designated parking lots and on raised traffic islands.
When security officers find illegally parked cars, they have to notify their superior, who in turn contacts the traffic inspectors who will issue the parking fines (see picture).
Sarfraz believes that students park illegally because there is insufficient signage to direct them to the overflow parking.
One small sign on the corner of Kirinari St and University Drive South states “Overflow Parking” with an arrow, while another sign at the entrance to the parking lot, modified with masking tape and a pen, states “Parking Overflow”.
Rate Your Uni, a website based on student ratings, rates the availability of car parking at the UC at 3.48 out of a possible 5 stars, eleventh highest on the website. In comparison, the ANU rates a meagre 2.36, the third worst in Australia.
