Hobart City Council increases the cost of one of its long-term CBD car parks by $55 a month

Hobart commuters will be slugged a combined $25,000 extra for parking in one CBD car park, with one couple saying council was “deliberately taking advantage of hard-working Tasmanians”. HAVE YOUR SAY >>

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DOZENS of Hobart commuters will be slugged a combined $25,000 extra for parking next financial year after an significant rise in the monthly cost of a CBD car park.

Using the Hobart City Council-owned Liverpool/Barrack St carpark will cost $300 a month from July 1, up from its current monthly cost of $245.

It means the 38 commuters using the carpark will each pay an extra $55 a month – $660 more each year – equating to a total of $25,080 extra going into the council’s coffers.

Most other council-owned carparks will increase by $10 a month, with the council saying the higher increase to the Liverpool/Barrack St facility was based on a market valuation.

The Hobart City Council has hiked up the cost of a long-term CBD car park from $245 per month to $300 per month, an annual increase of $660. Picture: NCA NewsWire / James Gourley

But one of the carpark’s users described it as a cash grab.

“As a parent who needs to drop two young kids at day care on the way to work in the city, our woeful public transport just isn’t good enough so driving is our only choice,” he said.

“For them to sting us another $55 a month – that’s almost a quarter increase from this cash grab – sends a terrible message that council is deliberately taking advantage of hard-working Tasmanians.

“I hope the next time councillors are parking under Town Hall in their ratepayer-funded carparks, they feel just a little bit guilty about this outrageous, unjustified and unfair decision.”

Hobart City Council general manager Kelly Grigsby said fees and charges across the organisation were reviewed annually.

“As part of the annual fee review, benchmarking is undertaken with other Hobart parking providers to ensure the city’s fees are in line with commercial market rates,” she said.

“In the case of the Liverpool/Barrack Street carpark, the existing rate was found to be well below the market rate.

“The 2021-22 fees and charges schedule was adopted by council last week and therefore permit holders were advised as soon as this decision was made.”

Tasmanian Small Business Council chief executive Robert Mallett said council was right to charge commercial rates, because it would disadvantage other commercial carpark operators.

But he said the cost of long-term carparking highlighted the need for better public transport.

“The Hobart City Council should be doing more to work in concert with organisations like Metro to make it easier for people to travel to the city on a daily basis rather than feeling like they have to have a permanent commercial car park,” he said.

What do you think about the increase in car parking costs? Join in the conversation in the comments section below.

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