30-minute free parking trial extended

30-minute free parking trial extended

The 30-minute free parking trial across the Leichhardt municipality has been hailed an overwhelming success for local residents and businesses alike.

The initiative, passed in the last term of Council, sought to breathe new life into struggling businesses in the area.

Amelia Gragagna works at the Norton St cake shop, Mezzapica and believes the parking trial has enabled more customers to visit the shop.

“We have found it’s very easy for the customers to park because they used to get fined. To pick up a cake only takes five minutes but when they went out they received a fine. Now this doesn’t happen anymore. More people are coming in to buy cakes because it is easier,” she said.

Luca Ponare, an employee at Chemist’s Warehouse Leichhardt also on Norton St, said customers are now able to shop in the store for longer.

“Customers have more time to wait for their scripts and they are not so impatient as they were with the 15-minute parking,” he said.

“By the time they came in and we dispensed the script they were a bit rushed. Now people stay in the store longer to browse and buy more things.”

Mayor Darcy Byrne said the trial has been a triumph and jusified his focus on parking in last year’s election campaign.

“I have had overwhelmingly positive feedback from residents and businesses. A lot of anecdotal evidence from businesses is that it has really given them a boost,” he said.

“Local people let me know personally that they are getting a fairer deal. I think it is an indication that we need to push on and make permanent changes to the parking system so that it’s fairer for everyone in the future.”

Due to the success and minimal losses in Council revenue, the 30-minute free parking trial has been extended to the end of the 2013 financial year.

“We have discovered that the revenue loss has been significantly less than was previously estimated by Council, which was my view all along,” Mr Byrne said.

“Now we will be going into public consultation to have an honest conversation with residents about the fact that there is a cost. There are a variety of different options that we can proceed with, and the main point being that we do need to provide 30 minutes free parking as widely as possible for local residents.”

Council allocated $300,000 for an initial three-month trial. Surprisingly the $300,000 is going to last ten months in total until June.

“What’s irrefutable is that it has been a positive thing for local residents and businesses and we can’t go back to the old system where parking in the main streets was all about revenue raising rather than benefiting the local community,” Mr Byrne said.

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