'Temporary' car park near Cooleman Court scaled back after community pressure

The new plans include space for 65 cars, instead of 108 spaces, with more trees retained on the site and a single entrance.

Community groups and residents had earlier criticised the original plan and said it typified the slow decline in open space through Canberra's planned suburbs.

City services minister Chris Steel said the government had heard concerns from community consultation including the impact on the Watling Place community, which backs on to the proposed car park site, the loss of a footpath and the preference to retain open space.

"We have listened to the community and we are reducing the size of the car park to 65 spaces, which has enabled us to remove the second entry on Watling Place in the design, as well as retaining most of the trees, and providing greater distance between nearby residences," Mr Steel said in a statement.

Mr Steel said the government was still committed to providing better access to parking at Cooleman Court, which it had been called on to do by residents and businesses in Weston Creek.

Watling Place resident John Davies said residents were still opposed to the car park and government efforts to categorise it as a "temporary" facility, which allowed it to be built on land zoned for community facilities, flouted the spirit of planning laws.

"Our line is that it's just ridiculous to cut down those 50-year-old trees and maintain you're planting another dozen in another area, you just can't do it. No reasonable person could possibly consider cutting down those mature trees, covering a park with bitumen could really be accepted as temporary. So they're just flouting that legislation completely," Mr Davies said.

Mr Steel said there would be a single entry point to the car park at the Brierly Street roundabout, with a new pedestrian crossing on Parkinson Street to provide access to the Cooleman Court shopping centre.

He said the existing footpath would be retained through the site linking Hindmarsh Drive and Parkinson Street, along with 15 trees on the site. The removal of four trees would be offset with 11 additional trees, while 125 Westringia shrubs would also be planted on the site.

A statement from Mr Steel's office again said the car park was temporary.

"It will be removed once the site is released for community facilities development or when the increased car capacity is no longer required," the statement said.

The government is expected to soon lodge a development application for the car park which will allow another opportunity for community feedback.