1000 sign petition against Hobart CBD parking price hike
Hundreds of people have already put their name to a petition arguing against the Hobart City Council's recent CBD parking price hike.
Tasmania
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A PETITION urging the Hobart council to reduce the cost of parking in the CBD has received over 1000 signatures, after the street parking rate was increased to $5 an hour last month.
The petition, started by the Hobart Parking Action group, is aiming to get the hourly meter rate reduced to $3.
The group claimed the increase is too high and would hurt businesses, predicting it would drive shoppers away from the CBD.
The City of Hobart defended its price hike last week, claiming Hobart parking remained one of the most affordable in the country.
“While some parking fees increased from 1 July, in many cases there were minimal or no increases to the fees,” HCC CEO Kelly Grigsby said on Friday.
Edwin Johnstone, from the Hobart Parking Action Group, said it was disingenuous to compare Hobart to other capitals.
“Hobart Council area has a population of 50,439 with the lowest median income of any capital,” Mr Johnstone said.
“We are not asking for time restrictions and meters to be taken away from the CBD.
“We have issue with the recent 42 per cent price increase and that is stated clearly in our petition.”
Parking price hike driving people away from city
The Hobart City council has been accused of price gouging after increasing parking fees across the Hobart CBD.
Motorists used to pay $3.50 an hour, now that’s gone up to $5 an hour, which residents say is too high.
“We’re on par with Brisbane rates but we’re not Brisbane,” Ann Wishink from Sandy Bay said.
“At least it’s a good incentive to walk.”
Sally Trethewey, also from Sandy Bay said not everyone could walk.
“I’m not really healthy enough to walk so I have to pay it.”
“I’m a chaplain at the hospital, I have to park at Argyle Street a lot and for voluntary chaplains, it’s quite a cost.“
University of Tasmania student Libby Sullivan said she fed the meter for less time than she normally would because of the cost.
“I noticed when I was paying for it before, like wow, $10 for two hours is really steep,” Ms Sullivan said.
“I put in for an hour and a half, usually I’d do it to the max.
“It’s the cost of two coffees, maybe two and a bit coffees, depends on your type of milk!”
Mother of three Claire de Boer said it was too much to be paying in Tasmania.
“We don’t earn as much as the mainland and we pay quite a lot for our groceries and petrol so it would be nice to have some things cheaper than the mainland,“ Mrs de Boer said.
“I think $5 an hour is quite expensive, I’d rather go to one of the ones further away and walk down.
“It might make people get here and realise they don’t want to stay as long”
Some business owners are worried about the impact on their business and on their customers.
Co-owner of Some Hallucination Hair, Edwin Johnstone said there needed to be justification for the rise.
“I wouldn’t say they’re ripping them off if we can justify how they’re spending the money,” Mr Johnstone said.
“If they’re not spending the money proportionately on roads and footpaths it does seem to be a price gouge.”
The salon owner said Hobart wasn’t the place for such high fees.
“It’s feeding into the perception people already have of parking in Hobart,” he said.
“There’s always an argument that we’re not as high as mainland Australia but this is Hobart, we’re not mainland Australia, we’re a small city. We should not compare with big cities.
Mr Johnstone said many of his customers would likely have no other option.
“The main concern in Hobart is there is zero public transport,” he said.
“And unlike other areas in Hobart or in the CBD there is no bus service in Salamanca so there are no other options so you either park or you have to walk.
“With a business like mine has elderly clients, not having public transport is not great.”
The first hour and a half at the Centrepoint carpark used to be free, now that’s reduced to just the first hour.
Part owner of Home Room Design Lucy Gott said it could affect visitors to the store.
“I think we get a lot of foot traffic from the Centrepoint Carpark,” Ms Gott said.
“For a lot of people that was a huge incentive to park in the city and I think that will have more of an effect on our business.”
Parking increase sting drives motorists away from Hobart’s CBD
A PARKING increase sting for motorists travelling in the Hobart central business district will leave some questioning whether they should come to the city, a leading business group says.
Drivers have incurred increases on the cost of parking over the past week, with a schedule of new fees ticked off by council for the 2021-22 financial year.
It comes as Hobart City Council tries to raise $4.37m more through parking fees than the previous financial year, where the bottom line was hit by the impacts of Covid-19.
July 1 heralded a change in the price of metered and voucher short-term carparking spaces, with many rates increasing by between 20 and 40 per cent.
The monthly cost for those holding long-term parking spots in council-owned facilities has also just increased.
Last year, fees for metered spaces and voucher machines up to four hours ranged from $1.20-$4 per hour, but will cost motorists between $2 and $5 per hour during 2021-22.
The cost for eight-to-ten hour meters of between 50 cents and $2 per hour will stay the same.
Meanwhile, a perk that allowed motorists the first 90 minutes free in the city’s major multistorey carparks has also been scrapped.
Instead, this has been reduced to the first 60 minutes for free, before reverting to $4 for the second hour, up to a maximum of $23 a day.
Hobart Chamber of Commerce executive director Robert Mallett said the price spike would leave some reconsidering other options for places to shop.
“On one hand, Hobart has the cheapest carparking of any capital city in the country. That’s a full stop and undeniable,’’ he said.
“However, while the price rise might not be much for a bureaucrat in the Hobart City Council, it will make people think twice about coming to the city. And that’s not what we want.
“Hobart city is competing with Moonah, Glenorchy, Eastlands, and Kingborough through Channel Court and Kingston town.
“Hobart has been, over the last couple of years, losing its appeal for customers to bypass an existing shopping suburb to come to the city.
“It’s also losing its appeal for businesses to come and set up in the city, and so you end up with a perfect storm. Businesses won’t come and you are pricing customers out of the market place.”
Prior to the pricing changes, council officers conducted a review of parking usage patterns and identified high and low-demand areas across the city.
Officers then made recommendations to increase the fee limit for premium CBD short-stay parking spaces from $4 per hour to $5 per hour.
More than 1500 parking bays have incurred a price increase of between 50 cents and $1 per hour, based on modelling of occupancy, turnover and usage patterns.
Meanwhile, 105 bays would incur a price decrease of 50 cents per hour and 153 bays would incur no change.
A council spokeswoman said carparking usage was continuing to recover from pre-Covid rates and that revenue from parking was expected to return to 2019-20 levels.
“After freezing parking fees in 2020/21 – along with other fees and charges – parking operations underwent the standard annual review including a very detailed bay-by-bay and street-by-street assessment of occupancy and demand,’’ the spokeswoman said.
“The results include a council decision to reduce fees for more than 100 on-street parking bays and a more standardised fee structure of $2, $3 and $5 per hour for short-term parking across different city precincts.
“Premium parking bays, where demand is particularly high, where kerb space is scarce and where off-street parking is readily available, are charged at a higher rate than those that are under-utilised.
“This helps support turnover, and equitable access to meet the needs of more people.”
Council said users of the EasyPark app also only paid for what they used, meaning a $5 per hour bay in the centre of the city cost $1.70 for a 20-minute stay.
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