Community fights council over two-hour zones replacing all-day parking
A plan to remove all-day parking around Darebin train stations and shops has been slammed as ‘high handed and arrogant’. Now those affected are fighting back. See if you should be in the fight.
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A plan to remove all-day parking from residential streets near train stations has been slammed as “draconian”, “high handed” and “arrogant”.
The Darebin Council proposal, which would create two-hour parking restrictions in streets within 400m from High St and near railway stations across Darebin, has attracted harsh criticism and mobilised resident action groups.
An online petition has more than 1500 signatures and a Facebook group against the policy has more than 520 members.
This mobilised community has bombarded social media with pictures of their empty streets and spent the weekend dropping hundreds of flyers around their neighbourhood.
The policy also proposes four-hour restrictions near parks and sporting fields.
Existing restrictions on shopping strips in High St in Northcote, Thornbury, Preston and Reservoir, and on Station St, Fairfield, would stay the same.
Neighbours Against the Darebin Parking Strategy founder Leisa Bayton said one proposal for an entire council area didn’t make sense, given people in different areas were likely to have different issues with traffic and congestion.
The council, which is one of the only in Melbourne without a current parking strategy, supports the plan to reduce congestion and make more parking available.
Darebin Mayor Susan Rennie said it would encourage more people to use public transport, not less.
“An important part of the strategy is to help us make walking easier and more enjoyable, so that as more and more housing is built close to train lines, that most of those people walk or ride to public transport, not drive,” she said.
But Ms Bayton said while she respected the need to move away from cars, there were too many reasons people needed them for this to be a viable proposal.
They included elderly or disabled who couldn’t walk 400m to a station, women scared for their safety late at night, and young families.
“They can’t ride a bike with their baby and two small children,” she said.
Ms Bayton said the “draconian measure” had created a “real lack of trust” among community members, and the proposal was viewed as “high handed and arrogant”.
Cr Rennie said the council had received a mix of feedback, including highly supportive responses, from hundreds of emails, phone calls and online submissions.
“No part of the strategy is set in stone — it’s a proposal that we are seeking community feedback on to so we can identify the best approach for our community,” she said.
Northcote business owner Cath Hope said she was concerned about the impact on businesses and staff after restrictions and paid parking were put in place.
“I can very rarely walk to work because I’m always running around delivering things and dropping things off,” she said.
Ms Hope said she worked on Brunswick St, Fitzroy when paid parking was introduced and it “destroyed” that street.
“Who wants to go and pay five dollars for a coffee when it’s going to cost you $3.50 for parking?” she said.
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Ms Hope said anyone wanting to see a movie, get a haircut or have an extended lunch would be encouraged to go somewhere else.
“I’m not adverse to changes but I think they’ve just gone too hard,” she said.
“It only takes one parking ticket and someone won’t come back.”
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