My personal opinion
I wish to refute Mr Jim O’Connor’s implication that I have done nothing to rid the CBD of parking meters. I was a lone voice at the beginning of my term at Greater Shepparton City Council and as you would understand, that to have a motion passed you need at least 5 supporting votes, no other councillors had an appetite for doing this and consequently the first time that I put a Notice of Motion on the table for ‘A free timed parking trial in the CBD’ it was lost 8 to 1.
I continued to lobby for free timed parking over the next 2 years to no avail until October 2019 when the following motion was put and carried:
Moved by Cr Sutton Seconded by Cr Adem
- Beginning from Monday 2, December until Friday 31, January 2020, Council provide free timed parking in the CBD of Shepparton, for both on street and off street car parking owned by Council as part of a Christmas and holiday promotion. 2. Marketing of this action will be critical so will need to have input from the Council, Chamber of Commerce and Shepparton Show Me to enable them to work together to advertise the new parking arrangements to our community. 3. To set up a sub-committee together with the Chamber of Commerce to work on the parking situation and future opportunities for investment, visitation and positivity in this precinct to once again be the vibrant heart of Shepparton. Carried.
This promotion proved to be extremely popular with both retailers and the public resulting in a much greater visitation and a great atmosphere in the CBD which had been missing for many years.
At the Council meeting on the April 21, 2020, a motion was put to provide free timed parking in all Council owned off-street car parks. This motion was carried unanimously.
If re-elected I intend to pursue all parking to be free timed in the CBD to allow for equality with other areas in Greater Shepparton. The employment of parking officers is organisational and councillors have no influence in how this is contracted although we have had many conversations in regard to the infringement process over the past 12 months.
My campaign poster for the current election is for a rate review as Greater Shepparton rates are much higher in comparison with other similar municipalities.
Obviously, Mr O’Connor isn’t interested in having a ‘Rating Strategy Review’ even though he has signed the letter received by Councillors on August 25, 2020 in regard to this issue.
After reading information provided in various formats and social media sites, it is apparent that a number of candidates are interested in reviewing and comparing rates and services offered by other Councils of a similar size; it maybe an easier sell if you have more than one person advocating for this to happen.
If you would like to speak to me about this or any other matter please don’t hesitate to give me a call.
Shelley Sutton
Shepparton
