Moonee Valley paid parking petitions gaining momentum
A second petition opposed to planned parking meters for streets around Moonee Ponds, Essendon and Niddrie has gathered more than 800 signatures in less than a day.
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A second petition against paid parking in Moonee Valley has gained more than 800 signatures in less than a day, as the council begins the process of introducing the controversial scheme.
Congested streets in Moonee Ponds, Essendon and Niddrie will be slapped with parking meters early next year as the council plans to complete consultation with stakeholders over the Christmas holidays.
The decision to introduce a paid parking trial for $1 an hour and up to $10 a day on congested streets in Moonee Ponds, Essendon and Niddrie, was carried five votes to two at a council meeting on September 11. But at its November 27 meeting, councillor Cam Nation said sport and community groups were unaware the changes were coming and wanted more information and consultation with the council.
Councillors voted to conduct the consultation in the lead up to Christmas despite a warning from the council’s organisational performance director Kendrea Pope, who said consultation should be avoided at this time because the council was often criticised for poor timing. She suggested consultation take place in February.
Deputy Mayor John Sipek agreed with this line of thinking and was concerned few people would be able to take part in consultation in the coming weeks.
“I’m flabbergasted by what we are doing here. It is highly unlikely we can consult with parking users by Christmas. Consultation means speaking to a lot of people not writing one letter,” he said.
Moonee Valley Mayor Narelle Sharpe said officers had already started consultation with trader groups about paid parking.
Before Christmas, letters would be sent to key stakeholders outlining the proposed paid parking locations, she said.
The decision to have consultation at all only came about after the council came in for criticism from a number of traders and sporting groups over a lack of transparency about the plan.
Maribyrnong Park Football Club secretary Tony Fisher said the announcement of paid parking was a blow to members who already struggled to find a spot on The Boulevard, which will have 55 paid parking spaces, on weekends. He said the council had not contacted the club about the plan.
“There hasn’t been any indication formally about how far it is going to extend down The Boulevard. I have heard it could extend all the way down to Aberfeldie Park,” he said.
Mr Fisher said if consultation was over the Christmas period he would make sure members and their families were provided information.
The club has been discussing increasing the number of parking spaces around the park with the council for years, Mr Fisher said.
“On a Sunday you might have 2000 people coming in and out of the place. They can’t all walk there.”
People have two weeks to contact the council with feedback.
For more details, including maps of the locations and number of paid parking bays, go to mvcc.vic.gov.au/parking.
A previous version of this story wrongly stated the paid parking plan at the September 11 council meeting passed unanimously.
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