Natalie Richards: Scarborough’s parking hell is killing my beach vibes

I’m lucky enough to live a mere 4km from the best coastline in the world.

I’m also lucky I get to spend my Saturday mornings at Scarborough Beach pool, having swimming lessons with my kiddo with the sound of the ocean in the background.

For that half an hour on a Saturday morning, life’s good. But is that 30 minutes of fun worth the 45 minutes of hell it takes to find a parking space?

It takes just seven minutes to drive from my place to Scarborough. It takes at least another 30 to contend with the absolute cabbages that frequent Scarborough’s carparks.

From gym bunnies sauntering along the road, more interested in their Stanley water bottles than the cars in their way, to arrogant drivers making dangerous manoeuvres to try to nab the next empty bay.

The stress of the parking bay scrap brings out the worst in everyone and it could be eased if we had a few more bays to fight over.

Our household contributes its fair share to the City of Stirling coffers. We’ve spent a couple of grand on rates every year and we shell out for a membership to use the city’s nearest pool.

So, when the council refused to make use of an empty block and spend our ratepayer bucks on a temporary car park last week, they chose to take away the enjoyment of the beach for many of us.

I take real issue with coughing up even a few more bucks to park in the Wilson Parking block up the road when I’m already paying for those hundreds of bays out there in the crush.

Our rates don’t even seem to be able to afford a ranger who can stop people with boats taking up several bays (seriously) or drivers blocking roads to create their own drop-off points.

As one reader pointed out last week, the parking situation is so bad, that Scarborough may as well not exist for some of us. And what a shame that would be.