A group of CBD traders has banded together to petition Warrnambool City Council to make 90-minute free parking permanent in two car parks.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Max Taylor is behind the petition that was placed in 25 stores last week and he is encouraging residents to sign it between now and the end of January when it will be presented to council.
A similar petition signed by 37 businesses last year was not successful, so this time they are calling on the public for support.
He said traders wanted sections of Parkers and Ozone car parks to be made free for the fist 90 minutes.
Mr Taylor said that in 1984, businesses paid a special rate for the construction of Parkers car park so that it could stay free.
He said 33 businesses chipped in more than $600,000 over 10 years, including $30,000 from his business Taylor’s Surfodesy. Businesses paid a similar rate for the construction of Ozone car park, he said.
Parking in both car parks was free for about 15 years he said, until workers started filling up the car parks and leaving very few for shoppers. He said he asked council to put in meters and when they did, workers stopped parking there.
He said the initial meters were simple to use and motorists adjusted, but with new high-tech machines now capable of allowing free 90-minute parking, it was time to change.
“We must have some form of free car parking and free 90 minutes hits the nail on the head because it was trialled in Parkers car park last year up until November and it was a big success,” he said.
The combination of the streetworks, introduction of high-tech parking and the zebra crossings at roundabouts had driven customers out of the CBD in droves, Mr Taylor said. “They haven’t come back,” he said.
He said with less than two weeks until Christmas, Parkers car park was practically empty most days.
Mr Taylor said his November takings were up to 30 per cent down on last year when the parking was free.
He said when the new parking meters were installed in December last year, his earnings dropped 10 per cent. “We’re up on last year, but that’s misleading because it was the worst December since 1999,” he said. “East, north, west, they’ve got 2200 free car parks, we’ve only got Safeway, Aldi and Swintons. It’s totally unfair. While those meters are there, they’re killing us.”