From Monday 8 August, pay parking charges will increase from $4 an hour to $5 an hour in Byron Bay.
There is no increase to the cost of the annual parking permits available to members of the Byron Shire community including residents and eligible businesses, workers and volunteers.
“Residents and everyone eligible for the annual permits that start at $55 per year will not experience any increase in fees and that’s because the aim of our pay parking system remains the same – to improve the availability of parking spaces in the town centre while recouping money from the large numbers of visitors each year,” Council’s Director Infrastructure Services, Phil Holloway said.
“Revenue made from the meters is still divided and spent in the same way it has been since 2018, with half of the net income spent on projects in Byron Bay and the remaining half used to fund shire-wide projects as a way to equitably distribute the funding to address impacts on infrastructure from tourism,” he said.
“This is the first time Council has increased the hourly rate at the meters since 2017,” Mr Holloway said.
“We have more than $180 million worth of flood damage to repair on our roads and revenue lost over the years thanks to COVID 19 and at this point in time, every dollar counts towards works and upgrades that bring benefits to our local community,” he said.
Pay parking generates $2.8 million on average annually (after operating costs) and this is used primarily to fund infrastructure work such as resealing local roads, construction of new cycleways and footpaths, improving parks and gardens, upgrading drainage and recovering from natural disasters.
