Melbourne City Council to scrap parking spaces to increase vehicle turnover

More inner-city parking spaces are set to be lost under a major council overhaul, as officials move to enforce a higher vehicle turnover.

More inner city parking spaces are set to be lost for uses like wider footpaths and trees under a major overhaul of the system by Melbourne City Council.

A draft parking management plan also has options such as off-peak pricing, paid parking at high-use loading zones and the ability to book parking spaces.

The council wants higher turnover of parking spaces and believes that simplified signage and better information on parking options will ease congestion and driver anxiety.

However, the plan envisages “reduced reliance” on parking as more people are encouraged to walk, use public transport, bikes, and car share under broader council policies.

The Draft Parking and Kerbside Management Plan said council will strategically “release” some on-street parking spots for other needs.

“Car parking spaces could be used to facilitate important city infrastructure (such as street trees, footpath widenings, trams tops, dining areas and additional open space) or different types of vehicle parking (like motorcycles, scooters or bicycles) that are being moved to the kerbside to alleviate congestion on cluttered footpaths,” it said.

Simpler signage may be a way to encourage a higher turnover of inner-city parking spaces. Picture: Ian Currie

Off-peak pricing may also encourage turnover. Picture: Ian Currie

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra said traders were already frustrated by the previous reduction of on-street car spaces by the council.

“Accessibility is one of the major deterrents for coming into the CBD and businesses are keen for it to be addressed,” he said.

“The reality is that car travel is the only option for some people and, if it’s made too hard or too expensive, they won’t come in at all.”

While there is no plan to raise the current maximum $7 hourly parking rate, the draft report said demand-based pricing would be introduced in the next two years based on reviews of parking data covering times of the day and week.

“This will lead to lower prices at off-peak times,” it said.

The plan said that loading zones were not working optimally, with issues including vehicles parked in spaces all day and accepting fines as a cost of doing business.

“And delivery vehicles parking in metered parking spaces, bike lanes or in no stopping areas due to loading zones being occupied or difficult to find,” it said.

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry boss Paul Guerra says are already frustrated by the previous reduction of on-street car spaces by the council.

If the plan is approved by councillors at a March 21 meeting, the city will look at options like introducing parking fees for very high use loading zones and valet parking areas.

With the City of Melbourne managing only about five per cent of the 193,600 spaces across the municipality, the council will work with private car park operators on “innovative solutions” to get more vehicles into off-street centres.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council wanted to make parking simpler and fairer to keep the city moving.

“We want to ensure that everyone who needs to drive into the city understands their options and has the best chance of finding a park either on-street or off-street,” she said.

Small Business Australia executive director Bill Lang said any move to make parking easier and cheaper was welcome, but businesses must be fully consulted on any changes.

“Let’s see how many spots are being removed, where they are being removed from and how the loading bay pricing will be simplified so that we see more people in the city, with more time and money to trade with our small businesses,” he said.

Street parking in the CBD is often at full capacity. Picture: Getty Images

Lead councillor for city transport, infrastructure and operations Davydd Griffiths said improved parking management would keep more spaces turning over, “and that’s good news for all drivers and city businesses”.

“While parking is an important mode of transport, we can’t forget that more than 60 per cent of people who travel to the city to shop don’t arrive by car,” he said.

Also to be considered is the replacement of ticket machines with cashless smart meters as only six per cent of all parking payments are currently made with coins.

“As technology improves, we will explore the potential to book on-street space to further improve parking reliability,” the report said.

If endorsed, the draft plan will go out for community consultation from March 22.