Hobart City Council bends to parking price pressure

The Hobart City Council will reconsider its parking meter policy after a petition with nearly 4000 signatures was presented on behalf of disgruntled residents.

HOBART City Council has agreed to take a good hard look at its parking policy, following a public backlash to its recent parking price hikes.

The issue was raised by Alderman Marti Zucco at Monday’s council meeting, where a 3700-signature petition was put before the chamber on behalf of disgruntled residents.

Ald Zucco put forward a motion that council look into possible solutions, including parking discounts for shoppers, a dedicated parking fund, and a re-evaluation of the existing policies.

“We, as the capital city, need to encourage people to come and shop in our city, to be a part of our city, and to help our businesspeople, which in turn helps the rate base overall,” he said.

Ald Marti Zucco presented a 3700-signature petition to council calling for action on parking meter costs. Picture: Chris Kidd

However, the motion met some stiff resistance from others in the chamber who believed it to be a populist motion put forward for political reasons.

Cr Zelinda Sherlock said council was already in the process of reviewing its parking policy, and that the move was merely “political spin” by Ald Zucco.

“We are doing something right now. We’re listening to the community, and these are stock standard policy developments we’re going to be putting in place,” Cr Zelinda said.

“There’s no real purpose other than being divisive, that’s all it’s doing. It’s tainting the work our officers are already doing.”

Ald Zucco was enraged at the suggestion that he was seeking political gain, saying he was acting on behalf of businesses that were harmed by council’s parking policy.

Ald Peter Sexton acknowledged that several policy reviews were already in the works, including one due in 2022, but said council needed to be seen to be acting now.

“We want people to believe that we are responsive to them at a time that is important to them, not six months or a year later,” he said.

“Regardless of your feelings about [Ald Zucco], regardless of whether some of these things have already been included in previous motions, there is nothing here that can do us any harm and there’s an awful lot here that can do us some good.”

Hobart City Council is under fire over increases to parking meter charges. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds remained unconvinced by the 3700-signature petition, which was circulated online for months and promoted by paid Facebook advertising.

Cr Reynolds said policy should be informed by hard evidence and policy experts, not just online petitions.

“Of course people will say they want free parking, free rates, no taxes – this is easy policy. But what we’re here to do is not necessarily easy policy, it’s about balancing a whole range of issues,” Cr Reynolds said.

“Good governance involves setting a budget based on evidence, based on collaborative discussion, based on the team having a consideration of a whole range of information.”

Cr Will Coats said Hobart businesses were crying out for help, and that council should listen to the voice of the people.

“There are clearly stresses, there are businesses struggling, there are people’s lives affected, there are 3700-odd who have even gone to the effort of signing a petition,” Cr Coats said.

“When I go around the community, the voice that I hear is that this is a pain point right now … we are representatives of the community, and at the moment the community is hurting.”

The motion was narrowly passed six votes to five, supported by Ald Zucco, Ald Sexton, Cr Coats, Ald Simon Behrakis, Ald Damon Thomas and Ald Jeff Briscoe.