Parking meters are being turned off in an attempt to entice shoppers to return to the city

The Brisbane City Council is offering free parking for visitors who want to head to the city to support local businesses, but there’s a catch.

Brisbane residents will be treated to free parking at meters for the rest of February, in a council bid to increase spending at local businesses.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said from Wednesday, every Brisbane City Council parking meter will be switched off and fees at the central business district’s two major car parks will be halved, saving residents an estimated half a million dollars a week.

“This is not just the city, this is not just the Valley, this is all 19 suburbs that have parking meters,” he said.

Popular council carparks King George Square and Wickham Terrace in the city will be half price.

“By switching off the parking meters and halving the costs at our two major car parks residents will save around $500,000 every week,” Cr Schrinner said.

Brisbane residents will be able to enjoy free or half price parking through to the end of the month. Picture: Rae Wilson

Residents should save between $1.20 and $5.50 an hour, on average, by not paying for meters and up to $17.50 a day at off-street car parks.

Cr Schrinner said he hopes people will invest the money they save on parking into local businesses that had been doing it tough since the pandemic.

“Buy a coffee, have lunch, spend some money in a local business … that would really make a difference for our local businesses,” he said.

The Lord Mayor said the initiative was also about getting people “out and about again”.

“We know that it’s been really, really quiet and a lot of businesses have lost their customers.”

Even though there will be free or half price parking in Brisbane until the end of February, parking limits will remain. Picture: Nicholas Falconer

Cr Schrinner said while the meters were off, parking limits remained.

“You don’t have to pay for your parking, but you also must not overstay your limit,” he said.

“The turnover of parking meters is vital so people can visit, shop and dine in our suburbs, putting money into the tills of local businesses who have had less foot traffic while more people chose to stay home during the recent omicron surge.”

The Mayor said there were only about 50 per cent of visitors going to the Queen Street Mall compared to before the Covid pandemic.
“This is a big change to before Christmas when it was 89 per cent,” he said.

“I’m confident that back to school and back to work, along with free or discounted parking, will bring a boost to our local retailers, restaurants and cafes.”

Time limits will remain on parking meters meaning people will still need to adhere to the rules to avoid fines.

Chief Executive Officer of Parking Australia Stuart Norman said although he understood the initiative, it could end up impacting the overall customer experience.

“We’re concerned that people are going to want to drive into town and utilise this initiative, but if they miss out they’re going to have to pay commercial rates if they go into an off-street parking facility,” he said.

“The whole thing about parking is thinking about the customer experience, we don’t want people driving around the block trying to find a free car park.”

Mr Norman said as an alternative, the council could partner with off-street providers such as Wilson Parking and offer discounted rates to ensure no one missed out.

The change has been welcomed by leading industry body, the Property Council of Australia, with the Queensland Executive Director, Jen Williams, saying it would help remove the barrier for those looking to come into the CBD.

“A month of free and cheap parking will not only entice more shoppers into the city, it will make it cheaper for office workers to come in throughout the week,” she said.

The initiative will work alongside the State Government’s push to get workers back into the office by slashing fees for CBD businesses impacted by the pandemic.

“I am confident that these complimentary offers across different tiers of Government will deliver an uptick in foot traffic in the CBD and provide a template for a bipartisan approach to CBD revitalisation,” Ms Williams said.

The private sector is “eager” to match the support of the Government, according to Ms Williams, saying office managers are currently planning their own offers, incentives and activities to encourage the return of workers.