The key issues identified during the five week public consultation period about proposed changes to heavy vehicle parking local laws have been summarised in a community engagement report.
A copy of the report is available online at heavy vehicle parking.
Council received 354 specific comments about the proposed changes to heavy vehicle parking local laws from written submissions, emails, phone calls, surveys, web forum comments and the public meetings.
Survey results showed the most concerning factors, nominated by the people who completed the survey forms, were 'criteria and guidelines', followed by 'application fee' and 'size of land'.
Most heavy vehicle owners, who completed the survey, did not believe there should be exemptions for Council trucks or recreational vehicles.
The former Beaudesert area was identified as the area of most concern for heavy vehicle owner/driver residents. Many owners/drivers said they moved to the area to operate their vehicles in an unrestricted capacity, while the non-truck drivers/owners said they moved to the area for the lifestyle. Both groups said they had invested large sums of money to achieve their goals.
Many people believed acreage properties were not the same as urban residential and therefore it would be impossible to make one law fit all areas.
The majority of heavy vehicle owners/driver residents said, if the vehicle fitted within their yard, any heavy vehicle should be allowed to park on the driver/owner's property. In contrast to this, other residents said heavy vehicles did not belong in residential areas and were concerned their suburbs would be turned into semi-industrial estates.
Of the people who completed the survey, 1 acre or above was considered the most accepted land size to park a heavy vehicle.
There was disagreement between heavy vehicle owners/drivers and residents about start-up and operating times for trucks. Residents felt there should be restrictions, while the drivers/owners disagreed.
Truck maintenance on residential premises was also identified as a major concern for all residents.
The application fee of $900 was considered unjustified by both truck drivers/owners and residents who completed the survey.
A heavy vehicle parking advisory working group has been formed based on agreement of the majority of attendees at the final public meeting.
Mayor Pam Parker suggested the advisory group work with Council through the next stage of the local law reform.
"We want to find a win-win solution, and having an advisory working group will assist this process," she said.
The group will meet for the first time this Wednesday 23 September 2009 and the meeting will be chaired by Animals and City Standards Chairperson, Councillor Graham Able (Division 5).