Revealed: Where Whitehorse Council has installed parking sensors near you

People parking at shopping strips across Whitehorse are being monitored as part of mass parking crackdown by the council. FIND OUT WHERE

Parking sensors have been rolled out in 23 locations in Whitehorse in 2022, timing how long drivers stay in their spots. File picture.

Shoppers in Melbourne’s east are having their parking times tracked at more than 20 locations as part of a crackdown labelled by some councillors as “totalitarian surveillance”.

Leader can reveal Whitehorse Council has installed parking sensors at 23 locations around the municipality this year, mainly at key shopping precincts.

It is part of a broader roll out of 2000 sensors across Whitehorse, which was approved by councillors in July 2021, and designed to bring in an extra $8m in parking fine revenue to council coffers.

Then-mayor Andrew Munroe used his casting vote to pass the parking sensor program, after councillors were split over the proposal.

The program is being rolled out over five years at a cost of $3.67m, and includes installation, recruiting new parking officers and new roadworks and line markings.

The council is spending $270,000 this financial year on the program, and has installed roughly 600 of the sensors around Whitehorse in 2022, with another 255 sensors to be in place by the end of the year.

Traders shared their anger over the recent installation of sensors at Vermont Village shops with Leader last week, with parking limited to as short as half an hour in some spaces.

Anyone who overstays the time limit in the spaces can expect a $92 fine.

Shelley’s Hairworks owner Michelle Ambuwaru was worried the decision would drive customers away from the shopping strip and have a detrimental impact on struggling traders.

“Most of our services take anything from two to three hours, it just doesn’t help any of the businesses to stay afloat here,” she said.

On Whitehorse Leader’s Facebook page, reader Robert New said he had also noticed the sensors in nearby Brentford Square Shopping Centre, and described the move as “a little bit of Box Hill creeping into Vermont”.

When the program was approved in July 2021, Cr Blair Barker likened it to “Big Brother, totalitarian surveillance” and “a bad, bad way to treat people”, while Cr Prue Cutts felt it showed the council was “completely out of touch with our community.”

The extra 2000 sensors were tipped to increase the amount of parking fines dished out across Whitehorse by 50 per cent.

The council’s director of city development, Jeff Green, told Leader last week the program was being used to address high demand for parking across Whitehorse.
“To improve access to businesses and shopping for our community we use in-ground parking sensors to support the efficient turnover of parking spaces.

“The sensors send information to council about when and how frequently parking spaces are used. Current parking enforcement practices will remain the same.”

Mr Green said the locations of the remaining sensors to be installed for the program were being determined.

Where parking sensors have been installed and switched on in Whitehorse in 2022:

Burwood

– Burwood Highway between Barry Rd and Station St

– Delay Ave between Station St and Centre Ct

– Barry Rd between Burwood Highway and Station St, and the off-street carpark between Barry Rd and Delany Ave.

Blackburn

– Canterbury Rd between Edinburgh St and Station St

– South Parade along Main St

– Blackburn Rd between South Parade and The Avenue

– Chapel St between Railway and Whitehorse Roads.

– Mary St between Railway Rd and Solwood Lane

– Canterbury Rd between Orchard Grove and Charlotte St

– Lawrence St between Canterbury Rd and Barns St

Forest Hill

– Brentford Square off-street carpark between Stevens Rd and Greenwood Lane

Nunawading

– Wood St off-street carpark between Wood St and Doctors Lane

– Market St between Springvale Rd and Doctors Lane

– Whitehorse Rd between Springvale Rd and Glendale St

Mitcham

– Enterprise Way off-street carpark near Victoria Ave

– Station St between Colombo St and Whitehorse Rd

– Colombo St from Station St

– Whitehorse Rd between Mitcham Rd and Lee Parade

– Glen Rd between Doncaster East Rd and Rye St

– Doncaster East Rd between Glen and Mitcham roads.

Vermont

– Vermont Village Shopping Centre, including Boronia Rd between Canterbury Rd and Beaumont St, and Canterbury Rd between Nurlendi and Terrara roads.