Moreland council push to make parking harder, more expensive under draft transport plan

Finding a parking spot in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs is set to become more difficult and more expensive — and it’s all part of a deliberate council plan. This is why.

Some councils are planning more parking restrictions.

Parking in major centres in the inner northern suburbs of Brunswick, Coburg and Glenroy would become more difficult and more expensive under a plan by the Greens-dominated local council to cut traffic congestion.

Under a draft City of Moreland strategy, housing developments in those areas would no longer have minimum parking requirements, encouraging developers to provide fewer spaces, or none at all.

Simultaneously, parking restrictions would be expanded to ensure that new developments do not use on-street parking in the long term.

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Some councils are planning an overhaul of their parking rules.

And parking requirements in local neighbourhood centres in those suburbs would also be cut by 20 per cent, according to the draft plan.

“This will reduce the number of new cars coming into Moreland as our population grows, helping to reduce congestion and improve liveability,” the draft plan says.

Existing residents in streets to be affected by the new restrictions would be able to buy parking permits, though this would not apply to those living in properties that were subdivided after August 2011.

The plan also calls for a 12-month trial of 30kmh speed limits in parts of south Moreland, the closure of some local roads to through traffic, and fewer parking spaces in favour of wider footpaths, more open space, and bicycle lanes.

Council narrowly approved the draft plan recently, with support from four Greens and two independents.

Some councils are trying to keep more cars out of their suburbs.

Former state Labor MP Carlo Carli, a Moreland local, said he was concerned that developers would have the say on providing parking spaces, saying: “Council should make the final decision not developers.

“My issue is that council should decide, based on good planning advice, not developers based on their profit.

“The problem with leaving the market to decide is that if not enough parking is provided, motorists will park wherever they can, and create other problems,” he said.

Mr Carli, who is the president of the Brunswick Zebras Football Club, said that local sporting clubs were affected by the current two-hour limits on parking.

“You can’t play a match of footy in two hours,” he said.

The City of Darebin, which includes Northcote and Preston, is also considering a new parking and transport plan, which might include measures similar to those that have been approved in Moreland.

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