Tensions between residents, hospital staff and visitors have been growing because of an unpleasant and badly-managed parking free-for-all that was proving to be a major headache for residents.

Cars were being left all day on nature strips and local drivers were being squeezed out of their own area.

The council has responded by announcing a trial of new parking arrangements aimed at easing some of the stress and imposing more control.

More than 100 all-day spaces will be allocated on streets in the area and more than 20 new two-hour bays created, while residents will be issued with priority permits.

City council officers will enforce the new rules and drivers actively discouraged from parking on nature strips, something that might prove difficult given the preference for and proliferation of this in the past.

It is only a starting point, but something had to happen as the hospital is getting busier, something likely to grow with further expansion.

As one council officer pointed out last week, Warrnambool has been blessed with a fabulous, state-of-the-art hospital which brings with it some serious parking challenges.

True, but didn’t we always know that there were going to be parking issues as the hospital evolved? 

Obviously we did, so residents might think they were justified in asking why the problem was allowed to fester for so long. 

Although the new measures are obviously a step in the right direction and we should give credit where it is due to the council for attempting to find a solution, the chances are it will be a short-term fix only.

The next time the hospital expands, which it will, more serious consideration will have to be given to parking.

Local residents will not want more of the same next time around.