News Alert |

Ballarat City Council has voted to adopt the Smarter Parking Plan but with a changed pricing structure.

The plan also details a criteria for signage to restrict car parking in residential precincts to deliver a balance between resident access to these areas close to the CBD and the all-day worker.

Residents will receive one free parking permit per household, with the option of a second one subject to strict criteria. A third permit may be considered in exceptional circumstances and would cost $100 annually.

There will also be a modest extension to the current paid parking network but with a revised fee regime of:

New parking meters would be installed with number plate recognition and credit card technology, along with number plate recognition enforcement vehicles subject to budget consideration.

An advocacy and action plan for enhanced public transport, park and ride options and sustainable transport initiatives would also be developed for consideration by Council in June 2019.

City of Ballarat Chief Executive Officer Justine Linley has also been authorised to liaise with the state government on the delivery, implementation and time frames for the $14 million election promise for the provision of 1000 free car parks within the Ballarat CBD, and to report back to Council.

Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh welcomed the decision and said the Smarter Parking Plan required communication, collaboration and a good relationship with the State Government.

"This plan wouldn’t work without all these elements but this plan will work and it will work well," Cr McIntosh said.

Have a question about this revised plan? Maybe you will find your answer below

At the moment up to 85% of drivers only stay up to two hours in a car park within the CBD, at present that stay would cost them $4.  This plan gives those users access to cheaper parking - under this new plan two hours would only cost $3.  And if you stay for three hours it will cost you that same as it always has.

No car parks are actually being taken away from workers, we are spreading these out to provide more equitable access to parking for all types of users across the city.

There are still 1000 free car parks on the way, we will continue to liaise with the state government on the delivery, implementation and time frames for the $14 million election promise for the provision of these 1000 free car parks within the Ballarat CBD. These free car parks will benefit our city's workers most.

We're also aiming to open the 140 FREE car parks at Eastern Oval, and 300 paid all-day car parks at Creswick Road by the end of this Financial Year. During this time we will also formalise some on-street carparks within 500 metres of GovHub that would remain FREE.

There will still be two, three hour and all-day free parking around the hospital, except where there are currently parking meters (these meters will be free for the first hour).  Big W is privately owned and will remain free for two hours.  The Coles/Safeway parking in Eastwood Street will also be free for the first two hours. 

As part of this plan, an advocacy and action plan for enhanced public transport, park and ride options and sustainable transport initiatives would also be developed for consideration by Council in June 2019.

We're also currently working on a better map, so stay tuned. We want to make this as easy to understand as possible and we hope a new map may help.

This plan will not be implemented tomorrow. The aim is to have the blue area (residential fringe) signed by the end of the Financial Year. However, more work needs to be done to determine whether all-day or timed parking will be implemented in these streets. This will be decided on a street-by-street basis.

As for the immediate CBD, we will look to go to tender (subject to the budgetary process) for new parking metres, licence plate recognition technology and a new parking app. We won't impose the $3 per hour parking change until we can give users that first hour of parking for free.  And to do this we need the technology, so there will be no change to the current parking scheme in the immediate CBD until we have that technology locked in.

We believe the revised plan will provide flexibility for motorists, but also provide the best balance yet for workers and residents. It also addresses the needs of residents who have told us that they can’t park in front of their own homes because we’ve never had that balance right between residents and workers before.

During consultation you told us parking in the CBD was not working. After taking on all your feedback (from workers, businesses, university students, residents and shoppers), we believe we have a plan that provides the most flexible and most equitable parking plan this city has ever had.

It also gives us the technology needed to prepare for future growth.

We can't thank everyone who provided their feedback on the original plan enough, your contributions have generated many big changes that we think will make our city a better place to live.