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Taking your driving test in Toowong? Be sure to prepare well as the suburb ranked among the lowest in pass rates in Queensland in 2016.

According to analysis from the Department of Main Roads and Transport, Toowong, along with Rosalie, registered a pass rate of 53%, the lowest pass rate among the test centres in South East Queensland. The pass rate is below the average pass rate of 61 per cent for the entire state.

The data reflect the reaction of many who took their test in Toowong and Rosalie. Over on Reddit, people are describing the challenges of the driving test there.

A Possible Cause?

So what could be the reason behind the low grades for testers in Toowong? Authorities dispels suggestions that driving tests in certain test centres are easier to pass or that some are harsher. They maintain that it all depends on the ability and skills of the driver. They stress that their tests are conducted according to their existing policies.

Still, many who took the Toowong driving test point to the challenges that could surprise some first-time takers. These challenges include coping with the busy traffic and the possibility of being taken to the hilly area of Rosalie.

While there is no railway crossing around the area, the driver will face several stop lights and a lot of busy intersections during the test. The driver will have to navigate through varying speed zones. There is a good chance of driving through the Western Freeway to Moggill Road.

There is no set route for driving tests in Queensland, but with driving tests in Toowong, you can expect to go through the Toowong roundabout, which even some experienced drivers have difficulty navigating.

Despite the relatively low grade for Toowong driving tests, Queensland is still seen as an excellent place to go for passing the test.

Among the driving test centres that took a high mark are at Barcaldine, Blackall and Winton, all of which registered a 100 per cent pass rate from January 2016 to December 2016.

The Toowong Test Centre is located at 15 Lissner Street.

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The Brisbane City Council has approved a new lessee for the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Café at Mt. Coot-tha. The café was closed earlier this year after the lessors walked out of their deal with the BCC.

Zen Catering, which also operates the Kangaroo Point Cliffs Café, has been granted a nine-year and 10-month lease to operate the Botanic Gardens café, and will be pouring in $643,000 to fit out and revive the site. Zen Catering has been running the café on an interim basis after the BCC’s negotiations with previous operator Mounir Ibrahim fell through.

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Paid parking will soon be introduced at Toowong Village. Called “controlled ticketless parking system,” the equipment for this is scheduled to begin installation this month, and will be tested through December and January. The paid parking scheme will start in February 2017.

Under the new system, the first two hours will be free parking, after which parking fees will be charged. There will be a $150 parking validation (conditions will apply), and entry after 6pm will be given free parking.

In order to facilitate payment, there will be six pay stations located within the shopping centre. An online payment registration process will make the payment process easier for customers.

Toowong Village is the latest shopping centre to introduce paid parking, after Westfield Chermside began implementing the paid parking scheme in 2011. Woolworths Toogong, Kelvin Grove Village, West End Market Centre, Buranda Village, Gasworks, and Paddington Barracks are now also charging parking fees.

Toowong Milton Body Repairs, a family-owned business that has been in Milton for the last 40 years, recently sold for $9.5 million after selling the business and three of its properties. Owner Christ Manteit says that two of the properties were bought by the Golden Horse Group, a Hong Kong development company that built the Icon Milton, a 20-level apartment tower. The third property will be used as parking space by its new owner.

Toowong Milton Body Repairs will be moving to a new purpose built facility.

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A 20-year old university student, so upset by Toowong commuter parking, has launched a campaign to introduce a residential parking permit scheme on Toowong’s streets. The proposed scheme would give parking priority to Toowong residents over commuters. Catherine Bugler has started a petition, now with over 50 signatures, for the parking scheme to be implemented in Curlew Street and its surrounding streets including Josling, Ashton, Mayne, Herbert, Holmes and Wells Lane. They – Toowong residents – are being “parked out of their own street by commuters,” she said. Most of these vehicles don’t belong to Toowong or nearby residents, but to commuters catching the train at Toowong station.

According to Miss Bugler, commuters park on Curlew Street and its surrounding streets from 6am to 6pm all day every weekday in spite of two hour parking limits. The commuters either move their cars continuously throughout the day or ignore the parking restriction, she noted.
The car parking problem in Toowong has been going on for years and has gotten worse with the construction boom. As a result, residents come home after work to find all the parking slots taken, mostly by commuters’ vehicles. In some cases, residents have had to pay parking fines for commuter cars that went beyond the two-hour limit.
The proposed residential parking permit scheme would make available a limited number of daytime parking permits, for a price, to both residents and nonresidents.