By Beatriz Alonso Montalvo

Health Minister Steven Miles announced on Friday that the Queensland State Government would build a new carpark at Prince Charles Hospital to take pressure off the on-street parking in the area.

But it will not be an immediate solution. According to Mr Miles, it will take more than a year and a half to be able to use this second carpark.

“Once the design is finalised, construction is likely to take around 18 months,” said Mr Miles. “It is likely to be a brand-new carpark and there will not be any disruptions during the construction.”

The State Government is now working on the design of this new carpark which will determine the cost, the number of spots, and its location. Queensland Health will announce more details about the project later this year.

Queensland Health will be in charge of financing and managing the construction of this second carpark at Prince Charles Hospital. It will be funded by a Queensland Treasury loan and then, repaid from carpark tariff revenue. This means the State Government will have more control over the car parking tariffs.

“Now it’s pretty expensive, to be honest,” said a hospital patient, “I hope a second carpark can cut the cost of parking.”

Users will need to pay in order to use this carpark, but there will be concessions available for some people such as long-term patients. These concessions will be up to a 25 per cent off the parking fees.

The new carpark aims to take pressure off the on-street parking and to help patients with parking near the hospital. This has been an increasing problem because more and more patients are being treated at Prince Charles Hospital.