One-hour park trial praised by Toowoomba CBD businesses

BUSINESS owners have praised a council plan to further cut parking periods in the Toowoomba CBD to free up space for customers.

The Bungalow and Basket owners Sally Cleary (left) and Jodi Paynter look forward to parking changes in the Toowoomba CBD, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. Picture: Kevin Farmer

BUSINESS owners have praised a council plan to further cut parking periods in the Toowoomba CBD to free up space for customers.

The councillors yesterday voted to trial reducing parking in the centre strip of Ruthven St, from Herries St to Chalk Dr, and a section of Margaret St from two hours to one hour.

It comes after an 18-month discussion between the council and the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce, which was exploring major issues with the CBD's parking layout.

The matter was also punctuated by a heavily-backed petition from business owners in February calling for action to stop CBD workers taking up customer parking.

Centre parking in Margaret St, between Ruthven and Neil Sts, was also permanently reduced to one hour after a similar trial in December 2017.

Co-owner of Ruthven St business Bungalow and Basket Sally Cleary said the move was positive, but hoped the council followed through with it.

"This is what we asked for in February, so I'm pleased it's now come to fruition," she said.

"Like we said from the beginning, this might not solve the problem, but it's a step in the right direction.

"I just don't think there's been any follow-through.

"Every time I leave of an afternoon, there is always free parking there on Margaret St (thanks to the reduction)."

The Margaret St trial revealed an overwhelming number of business owners supported the change, but no qualitative data was collected by the council about where CBD workers parked instead of in the centre strip.

A previous trial of one-hour centre parking across the whole CBD in 2014 showed a 25 per cent increase in the use of the 140 centre parking spaces.

Infrastructure portfolio leader Cr James O'Shea, who has championed the push for a new CBD parking strategy, said the trial was a step in the right direction.

"The stakeholder engagement team spoke to businesses, and 87 per cent said they wanted one-hour parking to remain and 95 per cent said there were no negative impacts," he said.

"That's fairly overwhelming evidence, and what it produced was other elements of the CBD wanting to see it rolled out into other sections."

Cr O'Shea questioned whether all stakeholders in the CBD knew where the most suitable parking areas were for their needs, noting that council parking lots on Station and Water Sts were never at capacity.

"Stats show the Station St all-day parking station has a 40 per cent vacancy rate, and anecdotally I go down there and it wouldn't be a quarter-full," he said.

"Long-term secure parking has been raised by the business community, so that will come up in the future with the council.

"It is an opportunity for the council to promote the parking options that exist in the CBD."

Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce CEO Jo Sheppard was pleased to hear about the trial, calling for the council to finish its strategy around parking.

"Change has been in discussion with council about the CBD, and parking or the need to have flexible parking options has been top of the list," she said.

"First, we need to have one-hour parking options in the centre of the CBD for shoppers to access retailers.

"The other thing is making sure the CBD is an attractive option for businesses to move in.

"Most staff love working in the CBD because you have options, but they do want to be able to park somewhere and know it's theirs for the day."

The trial is expected to start on August 5, pending the motion's success at the ordinary meeting next week.

Originally published as One-hour park trial praised by Toowoomba CBD businesses