Lismore hospital parking stoush a staring contest: Opinion

I'M JUST waiting for someone to blink over the parking stoush at Lismore Base Hospital.

The new parking restrictions around the Lismore Base Hospital have not been popular. Hunter Street. Picture: Cathy Adams

I'M JUST waiting for someone to blink over the parking stoush at Lismore Base Hospital.

It seems Lismore City Council can't lower its parking fees around the hospital because it has signed an agreement with the local area health service not to do so.

In the meantime, health workers seem to be voting with their feet by boycotting parking around the hospital and finding spots elsewhere for free.

You'd think this game of brinkmanship would end soon, but it has the potential to blow up as a major election issue unless it is sorted soon.

Just who runs this town? The council or the local area health service?

It seems the council can't cut its parking fees because it might undermine what the health service is doing with the multi-storey carpark at the hospital.

The main people impacted by this stand-off are those many hundreds of workers who have earned their living by working at the Base.

As one of the health union reps put it, there is "no value" in paying $5 a day or $1000 a year for parking in the streets a block away from the hospital.

If the funding model isn't working you usually change the funding model.

It seems $2 a day is a more acceptable figure.

Without some sort of quick compromise this festering sore will spill over into the September council elections. Look out for the candidates who make this a platform to stand on.