Perth Voice Interactive

The soaring popularity of Bikram Yoga in North Perth is getting motorists steamed up.

Every afternoon is a nightmare on Chelmsford Road and Leake Street, with motorists squeezing between parked vehicles that belong to participants of the sweaty pursuit. In some cases there’s just centimetres of clearance between parked and passing cars.

Local Ross Field says it’s common to find snapped-off wing mirrors littering the street. Restricting one side of the road for residents-only parking would help, he says.

“A one-hour parking limit would alleviate a lot of problems,” Vincent council west ward candidate Katrina Montaut reckons.

Cr Josh Topelberg—who’s recontesting west ward—lives nearby and says he avoids Chelmsford Road when taking his son for a bike ride: “It’s a daily problem… pretty much since Bikram Yoga opened,” he says.

A one-hour limit would have to extend to surrounding streets, otherwise it would just shift the problem. He’d prefer to see people park 200m away in the Dorrien Gardens carpark. He says the council should have limited the studio to a 12-month trial when it first approved the business: “It’s a good lesson for councillors: If you’re not sure, a time-limited approval is the way to go.”

The council has trialled a two-hour parking limit, but as classes are 90 minutes it’s done little to alleviate pressure on the street.

Bikram Yoga’s website pleads its customers to “not park on Chelmsford Road or Leake Street”.

“If you park on Chelmsford or Leake Streets, you will be asked to move your car!” it says. In the past, announcements were made before class for customers to move vehicles. When the Voice dropped by Tuesday afternoon, most drivers parking cars were carrying gym mats.

by DAVID BELL