Holdfast Bay Council to offer free parking for three months to Glenelg workers at Partridge St carpark

PAID parking has drawn furore at Henley Beach, but at another popular Adelaide beach the local council has resorted to giving spaces away for free to try to fill them.

The Partridge St car park where Glenelg workers will be able to park for free. Picture: Eugene Boisvert.

• Where staff will be able to park all day for $4
• Paid parking at Henley Square to go ahead
• No carpark plan for Jetty Rd being considered to revitalise the Glenelg strip

PAID parking has drawn furore at Henley Beach, but at Glenelg, the local council has resorted to giving spaces away for free to try and fill them.

Holdfast Bay Council’s latest plan to make better use of vacant spaces in its Partridge St complex will see it offer free all-day parking to Glenelg workers for the first three months of a six-month lease.

The move is in stark contrast to nearby Charles Sturt Council, whose move to introduce paid parking at its two Henley Square carparks has sparked fierce criticism.

Holdfast Bay’s scheme allows traders to lease out spaces on the first floor of the council’s Partridge St East parking complex as part of a trial, costing drivers $28 per week.

For the first three months, the fee will be waived to encourage staff working on or near Jetty Rd to use it.

The proposal drew the ire of some councillors at an August 22 meeting because the offer was not extended to residents as well as workers.

Holdfast Bay councillor Mikki Bouchee. Photo Tom Huntley.

Cr Mikki Bouchee told the meeting she understood the intent of the plan but was “sick of giving the traders things for free”.

“The residents (of Holdfast Bay) subsidise the retailers on Jetty Rd,” she said.

“We support them very much with events in this area, during (Transport Department) tram realignment we offered them spaces but they didn’t take it up, then I found a lot of the traders were in fact parking in the side streets.

“Three months free? No, sorry.”

Councillors were split on whether to open up the offer to residents and voted six to five to restrict the lease offer to traders.

General fees at the Partridge St, Glenelg carpark. Picture: Eugene Boisvert.

The plan was proposed as a way to get traders to stop parking in on-street spaces, allowing shoppers easier access to Glenelg’s shops.

It would also help the council make money from the car park, which it has struggled to fill.

Some councillors suggested the car park could also be used as a park-and-ride for workers catching the tram to and from the CBD.

Cr John Smedley told the meeting the council should first see how many Glenelg businesses took up the leases and later explore if there was room to extend the spaces to the public.

Last month, a council-commissioned study found at least three out of every 10 car parks around the Jetty Rd precinct were being left vacant – even at peak times.

The study aimed to identify if there was a shortage of parks in the area and what – if anything – should be done about it.

The council has also decided to increase general fees for the Partridge St car park by 50 cents per hour, but the first two hours will remain free.

Meanwhile, Onkaparinga Mayor Lorraine Rosenberg has defended Charles Sturt Council’s controversial move to charge beachgoers to park at Henley Square.

Ms Rosenberg, who heads the South Australian Local Government Association, said many councils were looking for ways to raise more money in the wake of Opposition plans to implement rate capping if elected at the March 2018 election.

“I think what’s happening here is a few councils are looking at the potential to bring in other fees and charges,” Ms Rosenberg said.

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable ... if a Liberal Government comes in (and introduces rate capping) it will lower our capacity to provide services.”

Ms Rosenberg added that she thought the parking meters, installed three weeks ago, were a “genuine attempt” to boost business at Henley Square.