Radical plan for free CBD parking and cheap city hotel and show deals revealed

A major shake-up of parking is among a number of radical ideas to entice people back into Melbourne’s languishing CBD.

Free parking would be offered across Melbourne all day, every day, until February and then in the evenings or on weekends until the middle of the year under a radical plan to breathe life back into the languishing city.

The powerful Committee for Melbourne also wants free tram zones extended and incentives offered to regional Victorians to entice visitors back into the CBD, to fill its empty hotels and buoy its COVID-crippled arts and hospitality sectors.

Committee chief Martine Letts said with many of the city’s signature hotels three-quarters empty, the State Government and City of Melbourne should be funding special deals to make city holidays attractive and affordable to regional Victorians.

“Free parking would not only lure Melburnians and workers back to the city but would make a huge difference to anyone coming in from regional Victoria with their cars,” Ms Letts said. “It would be a great incentive to bring people back.”

Maria Del Borrello and her niece Talia Orrica are happy that free parking available. Picture: Josie Hayden

Parking should be free across the city during the school holidays and then offered at strategic times which would encourage people to shop or go out to dinner and see a show, for up to six months, she said.

Special package deals making it cheaper for people to stay at inner-city hotels, wine and dine, shop and attend the theatre or special events should also be offered, she said.

Craigieburn local Maria Del Borrello and her niece Talia Orrica, 12, this week took advantage of the CBD’s free parking — offered by the City of Council until January 3 — to do some post-Christmas shopping.

Ms Del Borrello said she usually shops locally but the parking initiative encouraged her to venture into the CBD.

“I love going into the city and I really like to support the CBD businesses after what’s happened in 2020,” she said.

“For most of us, it has been close to 12 months since we have visited the CBD, so the free parking is a great idea.”

She said it would help to lure more people to the city centre if the parking offer was extended.

Melbourne’s CBD has been heavily impacted by the pandemic.

Ms Letts said an active campaign was also needed to encourage regional Victorians to come to Melbourne.

While regional accommodation was nearly fully-booked over summer, she said Melbourne hotels were struggling with just 25 per cent occupancy when they would normally be 80 per cent full.

Visitation over Christmas was also hit hard with 245 flights on the Melbourne to Sydney route — traditionally Australia’s busiest — cancelled in the four days leading up to Christmas Eve because of the coronavirus breakout on Sydney’s northern beaches.

“Melbourne is the most impacted visitor economy region in the country,” Ms Letts said.

“Visitation to Melbourne is not rebounding like other states and regional Victoria. Melbourne tourism operators are desperate for business.”

It’s hoped the plan would entice shoppers.

The committee’s recently released visitor economy report had also identified pop-up music and food and wine events as a way of attracting people to Melbourne, she said.

Extending the city’s free tram zones to not only reach major attractions like the arts centre, convention and exhibition centre, Olympic Park, MCG and Melbourne museum — but also stop directly in front of the Melbourne recital centre — would also encourage patronage of its cultural venues, which had been devastated by COVID restrictions, Ms Letts said.

Incentives for people to use public transport should be offered alongside any free parking, to avoid traffic congestion, she stressed.

But City of Melbourne mayor Sally Capp said “at this point” free parking was set to end in the CBD at midnight on Sunday.

Any change to that plan would have to be carefully considered by the council, she said.

“We have been thrilled to offer free parking to those displaying our voucher over the holiday season, in order for people to come in and enjoy everything the city has on offer,” Ms Capp said.

“The free parking initiative was a temporary measure … changes to parking fees need to balance the need to turn over parking bays for residents and businesses, as well as offer an additional mode of transport for people to use to come into the city.”