Handbrake off for city parking plan

A LONG-AWAITED Geelong CBD parking strategy will be open for public comment early next year in the last chance for residents and businesses to have their say on the strategy.

The City of Greater Geelong council last week voted to release its draft Central Geelong Parking Strategy for feedback after Christmas, as it aims to finalise a planning framework to “manage current and future parking demand” for the city.

The latest roadmap is an update of a 2005 plan and is designed to work alongside the overarching development strategy, the Central Geelong Framework Plan, which is waiting for state government sign-off.

A key strategy includes introduction of variable fees and time restrictions to respond to real-time demand and direct drivers to areas that had available spaces.

Earlier consultation found that residents were frustrated with difficulty finding on-street parking in the city, despite city data indicating that the area normally has at least 3000 spaces available on weekdays.

Other measures include dividing the CBD into precincts and prioritising different users for each area – such as for hospital users near the city’s healthcare precinct – and to explore partnerships with government and private developers to deliver more parking supply.

The city would strengthen its advocacy for public transport investment to reduce reliance on cars as the city’s population grows, and commit to reinvesting parking revenue into the CBD such as through streetscape upgrades.

Cr Eddy Kontelj encouraged feedback on the strategy to ensure the city landed on the best model.

“If you want free on street parking, tell us, if you want more parking, tell us, if you want accessing parking and paying for it to be simpler, tell us,” he said.

“We really want to explicitly know what you are thinking and what you want us to do.”

Councillors also noted the strategy was an acknowledgement that parking would still be required in the city in coming decades, despite a shift towards active transport options such as cycling lanes in recent years.

The strategy will be open for public comment for eight weeks early next year, after councillors voted for an extension of the period, from a date to be advised by the city.