News Alert |

Over the next few weeks, Smarter Parking will roll out in Ballarat with the new parking meters and a free phone app.  

You will still be able to pay with coins or card in Zone 1 but you will also have the option of the CellOpark app on your phone. All you need to know is your car registration number. 

Here's how it works: 

The new Smarter Parking plan means you will get your first hour of parking free. Press start on the app and it will automatically recognise your first hour free. Input your car registration into the car parking metre and it will also register you.  You can still pay by coin or card but you now have to register your car registration into the meters.  You can press start on your app and it will register you but make sure you press stop when you are finished parking.  Your first hour of parking is free, after that it's $3 an hour to park in the Ballarat CBD.   You can top up from any meter, just input your car registration detail.  You pay for how long you wish to park - time restrictions no longer apply in the CBD. 

The only exception to the zone is the Little Bridge Street car park. In this precinct, the first two hours will be free parking and then it will be $3 an hour after that. 

Parking, particularly in the CBD and the hospital precinct, has always been a controversial issue and one that was not easy to solve.  

But we know the Smarter Parking Plan will better balance the needs of residents, shoppers and workers in the CBD, and it will make parking easier, cheaper and more flexible.  

It will also mean that traffic keeps moving through our CBD and that Ballarat remains a vibrant place to live.