Ivanhoe traders demand all-day parking zones as they battle with carpark shuffle

MORE than 100 Ivanhoe traders are demanding the return of some all-day parking zones as they face the daily battle of securing a car park.

N35hb306 Retailers struggle upper Heidelberg Rd Ivanhoe

MORE than 100 Ivanhoe traders are demanding the return of some all-day parking zones as they face the daily battle of securing a car park.

The situation has become so desperate that traders and their employees can be seen moving their cars from carpark to carpark to avoid copping a fine.

A petition of 135 signatures, signed by Upper Heidelberg Rd traders and their employees, calls for Banyule Council to restore the all-day parking zones behind the shopping strip.

Ivanhoe business owner Ross Failla said many shopkeepers and employees believed the lack of all-day parking in the precinct restricted them from running their businesses without disruption.

“If anyone cares to go to the shopping centres to the east and west of Upper Heidelberg Rd, you’ll see cars being moved from one carpark across to another carpark,” Mr Failla said.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Should there be all-day parking in Ivanhoe? Tell us in the comment section below.

While the council would like shoppers to travel into Banyule by public transport, Mr Failla said not everyone lived in the municipality.

“On Saturday morning a sole trader wasn’t able to leave her shop because of business, and to her dismay she’d parked in the Coles carpark and got a parking ticket.”

The council resolved in 2010 to manage the busiest zone with timed parking restrictions.

A council report by engineering co-ordinator David Bailey said long-term on-street parking was not considered appropriate inside the zone.

However, prominent council watcher Roger Fyfe said years of reductions in parking requirements for developers and encroaching restrictions had intensified the issue.

Mr Fyfe said planning permit approvals for 107-109 Upper Heidelberg Rd, 1-5 Westley Ave and 2 Ivanhoe Pde led to a reduction in 30 parking spaces and two on-site loading bays.

However, Cr Jenny Mulholland said the council would be reviewing carparking in the Upper Heidelberg precinct, which would all be standardised to two hours.

“I know it was raised about giving traders a permit, and that did happen once upon a time, (but) there are more traders than there are carparking spots and that becomes a real issue,” Cr Mulholland said.

“There has been complaints from teachers, train-goers and traders.”