Councillor apologises over paid parking debacle

RESIDENTS are celebrating the backflip on the controversial scheme, but the mayor says it just means infrastructure will "fall apart”.

Opponents to the paid parking scheme at Bangalow gathered for a protest outside the Byron Shire Council chambers at Mullumbimby. Picture: Samantha Poate

PROTESTS and petitions have paid off for Bangalow residents, who received their hard-fought reprieve on paid parking.

Byron Shire Council today resolved to take a step back and reassess the state of parking in the village.

Deputy Mayor Basil Cameron's urgency motion, amended by Councillor Alan Hunter, was passed with a 7-2 vote in the chamber.

It was resolved that council staff will take on the initial advice from the Local Traffic Committee by changing time limits, while monitoring parking demands.

Results will be reviewed in the following 12 months.

Bangalow Chamber of Commerce President Jo Millar said she was elated to see all her community's hard work pay off.

"What a great day today has been, I've just walked out of the Byron Council chambers where the council has voted to actually instate what was meant to have happened in the RMS study,” she said.

"Paid parking will not be happening in Bangalow, we are looking at changing the time zones, monitoring it and revisiting it further down the track but for now paid parking is off the agenda.

"We don't want to be the watch dogs, we don't want to be the watch body for what council does.

"The process was flawed and we were right.”

Councillor Paul Spooner apologised to Bangalow residents in the chamber for the council's former resolution, stating there were serious flaws in the procedure and survey he was not aware of beforehand.

"We had made a decision on one day of data collection, and it was a day when the Bluegrass festival was held in Bangalow, when a population of 2000 became 4000,” Cr Spooner said.

"Now that is a distortion in anyone's language.

"Why did we accept this report? I am starting to question the quality of the contracted consultancy that we are making decisions on.

"I am struggling to find anyone who is in support of paid parking in Bangalow at the moment.”

On the other hand, Mayor Simon Richardson defended their previous decision to implement paid parking, stating he feels visitors should start contributing to the broader community.

"There has been a 30-year request for our visitors to pay back to the community,” Cr Richardson said.

"If people don't want that, we therefore accept our infrastructure falls apart and our needs aren't met and particularly our kids needs aren't met.

"I notice people are quick to tell us get money elsewhere and I say to them, please tell us how.”