[COM] Westfield West Lakes (Extension)

[Torrens_5022]

........Movie 1-2 hours? Titanic, LOTR trilogy, Harry Potter movies etc all about 3 hours - which would make it at least 3-4 hours range.

My main concern is the once per day rule they have to free parking, how would they monitor your vehicle? and to make it more complicated how would they monitor the different individual sections of carparks, like if you left and re-entered a separate section.
I have nothing against the paid parking and 3 hours of free parking in it's simple form - But Westfield says once per day for free parking on there website (http://www.westfield.com.au/liverpool/c ... king-rates) - would seem very sly to send a fine in the mail to someone who parked and shopped at 11am and then came back at 4pm and there was nothing saying these rules and no way of paying for this scenario

[Nathan]

My main concern is the once per day rule they have to free parking, how would they monitor your vehicle? and to make it more complicated how would they monitor the different individual sections of carparks, like if you left and re-entered a separate section.

They probably don't monitor it. My guess is that that condition is stated so that if they catch anyone blatantly doing it (say repeatedly leaving and coming back in just prior to the 3hr mark, multiple times a day/week/etc), then they have grounds to bar them. I don't think they'll care at all about someone shopping in the morning, and then coming back again in the late afternoon.

[Norman]

AFAIK they are using registration plate recognition at the entrances

[neoballmon]

My sympathy is with the staff that might be working an 8 hour day and have to fork out an hours pay just to be able to park to work. Unless Westfield have an exception for staff?

[neoballmon]

AFAIK they are using registration plate recognition at the entrances

So assuming it reads the plates better than the airport's cameras (they picked up a 6 on my plates as a 0), it should be quite easy for them to pick up people trying to get around the system!

[muzzamo]

My sympathy is with the staff that might be working an 8 hour day and have to fork out an hours pay just to be able to park to work. Unless Westfield have an exception for staff?

If you think from their perspective, how much does it cost to build a new multistory carpark on a per-space basis? 50K? 100K? You don't want that 100K car park to be used up by staff, you want it used by customers.

They would greatly prefer the staff to use Public Transport. Over time, those staff for whom driving is their only option will probably shift to employment elsewhere.

[Port Adelaide Fan]

My sympathy is with the staff that might be working an 8 hour day and have to fork out an hours pay just to be able to park to work. Unless Westfield have an exception for staff?

Workers at the QEH have to pay or move there car every 3hrs so the workers at WL could do that.

[pushbutton]

There is a new staff carpark, and it's free. The only inconvenience for staff is they have to walk across the road.

[pushbutton]

I hate to go on and on about it, but they've just taken those horrible 70s style benches and made them even worse, by putting cafe style tables and very uncomfortable looking multi-coloured metal chairs around them! Westfield had what I would call the perfect style of mall seating (leather sofas and modern coffee tables on stylish rugs) but now it seems they're intent on creating random clutter and very uncomfortable, totally unco-ordinated seating!

So now spread throughout Westfield West Lakes there are the wooden benches from the early 90s redevelopment before it was Westfield the first time, the more recent wooden benches from when it was Westfield the first time, the very nice modern sofas and coffee tables on rugs I mentioned above, and now these monstrous 3-pronged benches with massive plant pots in the middle, surrounded for some crazy reason by cafe tables and metal chairs! Needless to say the result is extremely odd to say the least.

Yep, all 4 styles of seating now co-exist throughout the centre, and there is no apparent reason.

[pushbutton]

The boom gates are now operational.

[pushbutton]

There is now a giant Chess board outside Woolworths, and whilst I don't play Chess myself, I love the fact this space has been devoted to free social fun suitable for everyone! The outside playground is just about ready to open and looks great, but with just a few modifications could have offered a lot more for adults. As it is, it's clearly aimed mainly at kids. Still good though.

The various mall seating arrangements have now been further supplemented with the addition of several new relaxation zones consisting of very plush rugs, with very upmarket chairs and tables. As long as they stay in good condition, I think they look great!

[Ben]

[crawf]

There is now a giant Chess board outside Woolworths, and whilst I don't play Chess myself, I love the fact this space has been devoted to free social fun suitable for everyone! The outside playground is just about ready to open and looks great, but with just a few modifications could have offered a lot more for adults. As it is, it's clearly aimed mainly at kids. Still good though.

Errrr aren't all playgrounds aimed at children?

[pushbutton]

There is now a giant Chess board outside Woolworths, and whilst I don't play Chess myself, I love the fact this space has been devoted to free social fun suitable for everyone! The outside playground is just about ready to open and looks great, but with just a few modifications could have offered a lot more for adults. As it is, it's clearly aimed mainly at kids. Still good though.

Errrr aren't all playgrounds aimed at children?

Not at all! The best example I have seen of a playground for all ages is the one in Sea World, adjacent the battle boats. There is another at a shopping centre in England which is definitely not suitable for anyone below the age of 9 years, but is suitable for all ages above that.

There are many others. Just Google it. Some adults do actually like to have fun! As I said though, the giant Chess is a good idea and no doubt will be enjoyed by people of all ages.

[pushbutton]

Well it's open and I've seen it. I am still amazed at how fast it all happened (once work finally started after God knows how many years of delays, as per usual). This time 12 months ago the site where the extension is was just a (free and easy to navigate) carpark. Now it's a mall!

Anyway I must say it's all quite stylish. Target is the most interesting bit because it's a radical departure from any other Target store I've ever seen. They have gone for a completely new style store, nothing at all like a traditional Target.

It is very open plan, and has a polished concrete floor, with pads and walkways defined mainly by black lines marked in the concrete. The walls are painted in pastel shades, mainly pink on the left hand side of the store (for ladieswear, with huge lettering on the walls saying "Hers"); and blue on the right hand side of the store (for menswear, with huge lettering on the walls saying "His"). There are several departments other than those, including toys, DVDs, Christmas, and kidswear. However they're all quite small compared to a traditional Target. In fact, the store as a whole appears a bit on the small side compared to a traditional Target.

It's not bad though, but in my view doesn't compare well to a Kmart or a Big W in terms of range of stock, or perception on pricing. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I guess if in 12 months or so they make drastic changes to it, that would indicate a failed experiment. If other stores become like it though, it must have worked.