Is this the most expensive car parking in Australia?

THE first two hours are free. That’s nice. But overstay your welcome at Alderley Coles in Brisbane, and you might double your grocery bill.

Coles Alderley opened on February 18 ... just don’t use those carparks for more than two hours. Picture: Supplied

COLES says it’s to deter commuters from taking advantage of parking at their new Brisbane store.

But with a $77 slug if you stay more than two hours, shoppers will want to hope they don’t get distracted stocking up and overstay their welcome.

Fierce debate has broken out over the parking limits at the new Coles store in the Brisbane suburb of Alderley thanks to the steep parking limits in its 220-space carpark.

The store opened last Saturday, and the associated carpark offers shoppers free parking for two hours.

Go over that limit, according to signage at the centre, and the charge is $77.

At the heart of the problem is that the store’s location is directly opposite the Alderley train station, which has 86 spaces.

As one poster to Facebook page said “86 spaces likely only means 86 people. That’s only a couple of stops of the train”.

Coles Alderley store manager James Feslman told the Brisbane Timesthe parking is for Coles customers and the two-hour limit has been introduce to stop train commuters parking there to catch the train into the city.

Maybe to stay on the safe side, shoppers should stick to the “12 items or less” line.

Originally published as Is this the most expensive car parking in Australia?