Vermont Village traders win battle against Whitehorse Council’s parking sensors

A shopping strip in Melbourne’s east has won its battle for longer customer parking after the local council did a ruthless rollout of parking sensors to boost fines revenue.

Vermont Village traders Michelle Ambuwaru and Jasmine Sreyneath are relieved after they successfully petitioned Whitehorse Council to extend parking hours at their shopping strip. Picture: Kiel Egging.

A council in Melbourne’s east has boosted parking time at a Vermont shopping strip after its introduction of parking sensors drew the ire of angry traders and customers.

Whitehorse Council’s multimillion-dollar parking sensor rollout, designed to boost its coffers with millions of dollars in fines revenue, included sensors placed in one-hour spots at Vermont Village.

Leader aired traders’ concerns in September, who feared the sensors would have a detrimental impact on their businesses and scare off customers who had longer appointments, as they faced the hassle of moving their car every hour or copping a $92 fine.

Vermont Village traders including Michelle Ambuwaru, front right, feared the parking sensors would drive customers away from her salon. File picture.

The sensors have helped the council issue 97 fines at the shopping strip since they were installed in late August.

Traders banded together to ask the council for longer time limits, which the council agreed to after a series of meetings and consultation.

The new time limits were introduced last week, with 19 spots altered on Boronia Rd to 16 two-hour spaces and three three-hour spaces.

The new signs with extended parking hours on Boronia Rd at Vermont Village shops. Picture: Kiel Egging.

Shelley’s Hairworks owner Michelle Ambuwaru said she and other traders on the strip were relieved with the changes.

“One hour is not enough for a lunch date, a second cup of coffee, it didn’t help anyone,” she said.

“We don’t have to stress now that while we’re doing a client’s hair, they are going to get a parking ticket.

“All the clients had a bit of a say in it as well, and it shows as a community what you can achieve.”

The council’s director of city development, Jeff Green, said the changes would “allow shoppers to spend more time at the precinct and to support a number of businesses that rely on longer-term parking, including beauty therapy, tattooing, massage, and sit-down cafes and restaurants.”

Mr Green said officers would “continue to monitor parking conditions, including duration of stay and occupancy rates, to ensure parking restrictions are appropriate for the area.”

The council did not say if it was considering changing parking time limits at any other shopping strips, but confirmed it had not received any requests from the community or traders to do so.

Traders at Vermont Village shops with Whitehorse councillor Prue Cutts and the new parking signs with longer time limits. Picture: Facebook.

Cr Prue Cutts, who described the widespread sensor rollout as “completely out of touch with our community” in 2021, welcomed the changes at Vermont Village.

“It is wonderful to see new parking restrictions installed … replacing the one hour parks, which were causing so much outrage with the newly installed sensor parking,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“I’m thrilled to have played a part in this sensible change.”