An open letter to the Southern Grampians Shire Council in in relation to the Hamilton CBD Parking
Following feedback by both HRBA members and others within the Hamilton CBD business community.
HRBA would like to communicate concerns with the current arrangements for parking in the Hamilton
CBD as recently introduced by the Southern Grampians Shire Council. We note the shire has indicated to
have undertaken consultation with stakeholders. HRBA understands this was approximately a decade
ago and has not been updated prior to recent traders’ meetings and concerns being raised.
The continuing delays and impact of the Cox Street development is adding to business stress. When
coupled with the current wider retail downturn, cost increases for small business and cost of living
impacts felt across our communities.; this is creating a perfect storm of negative impacts on local
businesses.
Prior to the new parking system being introduced the Shire had not been widely enforcing car parking
laws. This has created a belief by some users that parking has been free within the CBD, thus creating
perception of entitlement to free on street parking which the shire now seeks to dispel.
At the time of consultation HRBA advocated for a free period of one hour within the CBD. We continue
to call for an enforced free period of parking. We believe this will elevate a lot of the negative
perception of the new system. This could be achieved through either the first 60 minutes of a 2 hour
maximum parking time being free (this being consistent with other shires using the same Easy Park
platform) or the first 15 minutes of a 60 minute maximum parking time being free.
The new meters are phone or smart card dependant, (ie. no cash) this is not user friendly and is
problematic for a large portion of the local population, especially older and disadvantaged people . This
was a concern raised by many retailers along Gray Street.
Signage is poor – wording cis confusing and does not clearly identify the location of meters. More meters
are needed to increase access and ease of use . The spacing between the new meters is far too great,
again especially for elderly and disadvantaged people whom are challenged in accessing and using app
based payment systems
It is positive to note the system has stopped over term parking and led to a higher turn over of vehicles
,freeing up parks for more access. This re-enforces the need for proper and proportionate enforcement
of the parking time limits to maximise the turnover of car spaces and therefore access for more people
to the CBD. Friday night car park restrictions should finish at 5.30pm in line with other nights. We
believe this to be a historical anomaly that has created an undue impact on hospitality venues.
The Sparking rollout has had unclear communication and implementation,. especially in relation to prior
consultation and active physical community engagement to assist in understanding use of the new
system. The consultation appears to have been a tick the box exercise as many of the recommendations
have not been acted upon. The community believesconsultation has not been acted upon and only
conducted to enable the execution on decisions that have already been made by the Shire.
The Hamilton CBD needs an effective parking system and the new system s is not it. The new system can
only be regarded an improvement on the basis that the previous status quo was not sustainable and
restricted access to parking.
Local CBD businesses have requested the Shire either: