Council
16 December, 2024
Council motion allows shoppers to enjoy free parking in Horsham CBD
Cr Cam McDonald moves to suspend parking meters until mid-2025.
Shoppers can enjoy free parking in Horsham Central Business District after a successful motion at this month's council meeting.
Horsham Rural City Council May Ward councillor Cam McDonald successfully moved the motion to suspend parking meter operations from December 17, 2024, until June 30, 2025.
He said this would allow free parking during the festive season and allow time to review parking meter operations within the central business district.
The motion was moved unanimously.
Cr McDonald said his motion was based on four clear issuers.
"Firstly, the community is dissatisfied due to the difficulty in using the parking meters, which includes confusion and time-wasting," he said.
"Parking meters are now financially questionable enterprises that are not profitable from several final modules. This enterprise is putting downward pressure on community satisfaction."
Cr McDonald also said the parking meter enterprise was penalising society's most vulnerable, adding to a spiralling debt regime that was already a financial burden.
During his reasoning for the motion, he said the parking meters disadvantaged main street traders who competed with free parking at the Horsham Plaza, Target Plaza, Bunnings, Harvey Norman, Betta Electrical, Coles, Woolworths and library car parks.
Cr Angela Munn seconded the motion and said she believed the motion was sound and had merit.
She said she believed the motion was appropriate, as times were tough for many in the community and the main street traders. She said it would be an advantage if the council could help the community this way and encourage visitors to the town.
'I also think that a review is essential to weigh the cost of lost revenue against the benefits," Cr Munn said.
Cr Rebecca Sluggett said she supported the motion because it was one of the most mentioned issues the community spoke to her about during her campaign.
Cr McDonald stressed that people must still observe the limits as overstayers would be fined.
Since the introduction of the Blinkay parking system early in March 2023, there has been widespread dissatisfaction throughout the community.
A review six months after the introduction resulted in a free 30 minutes, but users still had to enter their details into the meter.
The discontent continued through letters to the council and on social media.
Cr McDonald thanked Director of People and Places Kevin O'Brien and acting chief executive Craig Nieman for their assistance in preparing his motion.
He said he had spoken with other councils that had successfully removed meters, such as Ararat and Mildura which had no meters but timed parking.