CBD 15-minute free parking policy hailed a success
THE Townsville City Council’s 15-minute free CBD parking has been hailed a success.
Townsville
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THE Townsville City Council’s 15-minute free CBD parking has been hailed a success, with the latest data showing it has been used more than 6000 times by motorists since its launch.
Cr Ann-Maree Greaney, whose division covers the CBD, said motorists had saved more than $1500 from making use of the 15-minute free parking in the CBD since it started on August 1.
“This is another way the council is working to encourage more people to come into the CBD, whether it’s through new street art or lighting up our bridges with LED displays,” she said.
“The feedback so far has been positive and the council will monitor how the free parking is working over coming months.”
At the time of the launch Cr Greaney said the parking initiative was part of a broader strategy to develop the CBD into a more attractive place to visit.
“Council has put a lot of effort into enlivening our city here, whether it’s through new street art projects or temporarily transforming vacant shopfronts through programs such as the Pop Up Percivals,” she said.
CBD trader, Ann Maree Reid, of That Place on Sturt which she operates with her son Lucas Reid, said she applauded the council for examining ways to entice more people to come to Townsville’s city heart.
“The only negative is that I don’t think a lot of people know that 15-minute free parking is available,” she said.
“More education needs to take place around the free parking policy.”
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Ms Reid said if the council was serious about attracting more people to the CBD, it should re-examine the role parking inspectors performed.
“Parking officers should be less intimating and more customer service focused,” she said. “It should be the in parking inspectors’ job descriptions for them to be more interactive with business owners and visitors to the CBD.
“They are essentially a customer service agent so why are they not trained in customer service, why are they trained more as a security guard?
“The council has an opportunity to change the way the parking inspectors operate which should be for the inspectors to be more flexible and helpful to visitors and traders.”
Townsville Chamber of Commerce president Debbie Rains, who is also a CBD trader, said the 15-minute free parking was initially a point of contention because many believed it was not long enough.
“This caused a lot of conversation at the start,” she said.
“But people seem to have settled in to the 15-minutes of free parking and are making it work.
“Although extending the 15-minute free parking to 30 minutes would certainly squash any argument about whether 15-minutes is enough time.”
Originally published as CBD 15-minute free parking policy hailed a success