Ghent (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Thuispunt Gent is building 53 homes in Bloemekenswijk, Ghent, using 22 parking spaces at Het Getouw parking lot. Alderman Joris Vandenbroucke supports this parking solution for the community.
Thuispunt Gent, a social housing company, is building 53 new homes in the Bloemekenswijk neighbourhood in Ghent, Belgium. They originally wanted to provide parking spaces for the new residents, but there wasn’t enough room. The city of Ghent came up with a different plan. They reserved 22 parking spaces in a nearby parking lot called Het Getouw.
Thuispunt Gent will rent these spaces at a special rate for residents, paying 550 euros per year for each space. They will then charge their tenants 401 euros per year for parking. They mentioned that this way, everyone who lives in the new homes will have a place to park their car, without needing to build more parking spaces.
“It is a good solution to provide sufficient parking space, without creating extra space above or below ground,”
Says Alderman Joris Vandenbroucke (Voor Gent) ,
“after questions from municipal councillors Stijn De Roo (CD&V), Jonas Naeyaert (Vlaams Belang) and Sarah Van Acker (Groen). It is also an option for the city in the future to make even better use of our parking facilities.”
How will Ghent’s Het Getouw parking tower address parking needs?
The city of Ghent is trying to get more people to use the Het Getouw parking tower. They’re offering people who live within 2 kilometres of the parking tower a chance to get a yearly parking pass at a special rate. This parking tower was built 3 years ago, but not many people have been using it.
The city council currently wishes to learn how to best utilise the parking tower, as it took 5 million euros to construct. They hope, through this offer, that they will be able to get people to use the parking tower and make it more useful to the city.
Ghent is working with local businesses and organisations to get more people to use the Het Getouw parking tower. They think more people will need parking in the future, especially when a new train depot is built nearby.
The city also aims to ensure there’s sufficient space to park for residents of the neighbourhood, including residents of a new housing complex. By allowing residents to lease parking spaces in the Het Getouw parking tower, Ghent aims to improve life for the neighbourhood and better utilise its parking tower.
“We also want to further develop the parking as neighbourhood parking to get cars off the road. That fits in with the new parking vision that the city is currently developing,”
Concludes Joris Vandenbroucke.
