COUNCIL’S two-month period of complimentary timed parking in the Shepparton CBD has expired, and shoppers are once again required to pay for their stay.
In a statement last week, the Greater Shepparton City Council said the decision to provide complimentary parking in December and January was “to encourage locals and visitors to support our local economy over the festive period, and to assist our community with COVID-19 recovery.”
That period is now over.
The unpopular decision means that from Monday, February 1, paid parking in on-street car parks resumed, and infringements will be issued for failure to pay.
The Shepparton Chamber of Commerce and Industry had formally requested Council extends the period of free parking to the end of the 2020/21 financial year, however this call was rebuffed last week.
Chamber president, John Anderson, said while the Chamber’s goal was to maintain free parking across the CBD, he admitted that any changes to the parking scheme were unlikely to occur prior to the second half of 2021.
“Council is examining the cost and viability of changes to parking, and we’re in continued discussion with them,” Mr Anderson said.
“We have a good relationship with Council, and we want to keep pressure on the Council regarding this issue in a sensible and rational way.”
Several of the councillors elected last November campaigned on the issue of free parking, however the topic has not yet been on the agenda of an Ordinary Council meeting, and again appears very unlikely to be brought up at the February 16 meeting – the first of 2021.
According to Council, the decision to enact free CBD parking could only occur after councillors had been presented with a comprehensive report of the December/January free parking initiative, which would be part of the 2021/22 budget process at the end of the financial year.
This means no executive decision to have free CBD parking from February is likely.
In the meantime, Council will instead market the complimentary car parks that are available in Council-owned off-street car parks.
