Croydon station parking: Maroondah Council quizzed over pay machine at Devon St carpark

One of the Federal Government’s contentious commuter carparks is almost ready to open, but those who leave their car too long at night won’t get a free ride.

Drivers will be pinged for overnight access to their cars at one of the federal government’s new commuter carparks, despite a prior promise they would be free to use.

Croydon’s $18m multideck carpark on Devon St near the suburb’s railway station is tipped to open in early December, with about 400 parking spaces available.

The government has spent an extra $3m on the project since it was announced in February 2019, when Deakin federal Liberal MP Michael Sukkar announced $15m funding and free all-day parking.

But Maroondah Council has confirmed users will have to pay a small fee to gain access to their cars while it is closed due to security arrangements.

An artist’s impression of Croydon’s new $18m multideck carpark, which is tipped to open next month. Picture: Maroondah Council.

Mayor Kylie Spears said the carpark would be closed overnight for security reasons and doors, boom gates and roller doors would be “automated and timed to the hours of operation”.

“The kiosk machine positioned at the exterior of the building will manage automated entry

to any person who has not removed their vehicle prior to the advertised closing times, this

will incur an out of hours payment,” she said.

A ticketing machine installed at one of the carpark entrances, spotted by Maroondah Leader on Thursday night, asked for a $7 payment when a button was pressed.

However, the council claimed it was yet to install signage or determine exact pricing at the pay station, and the information was “wrong”.

The display screen at the recently installed pay station at the Croydon multideck carpark. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Cr Spears said the fee would be significantly lower than after hours call-outs at other carparks, and users could return and drive out for free when it reopened the next day.

The council did not confirm the carpark’s hours of operation or who would pocket the fees from after-hours access.

Mr Sukkar said the carpark would be “a huge improvement for Croydon and offer seven-days-a-week free parking for all commuters as promised”.

Croydon Main Street Traders Association president Andrew King said the carpark would provide important safety benefits for users and was waiting to hear from the council about parking arrangements for traders.

The council blamed Melbourne’s Covid-19 construction shutdown for the delay in opening the carpark, which was expected to be ready by the end of October.

A yet-to-be-named retail tenant will also open on the ground floor of the carpark in early 2022.