Inner West Council has voted unanimously to extend the period main street parking meters are deactivated.
At last Tuesday’s meeting, Councillors voted to extend the deactivation period, first introduced during COVID-19 lockdowns, until 31 December.
The relevant parking meters are on Norton Street Leichhardt, Darling Street Rozelle and Balmain, King Street Newtown and Enmore Road Enmore.
“Our local businesses and residents are telling us that they still need time to recover. We’ve listened to them and the best way we can respond right now is to keep those parking meters turned off until after Christmas,” Inner West Mayor Rochelle Porteous said.
Mayor Porteous says this decision will allow businesses extra time to recover and will encourage the local community to shop and dine locally without the “extra impost of paying for parking”.
In October 2021, Council consulted with businesses and relevant Chambers of Commerce about keeping the parking meters switched off until the end of the year.
“A letter was hand delivered to all the businesses on these streets with a short survey asking them if they would like the parking meters to remain deactivated,” Mayor Porteous said.
“Ninety per cent of respondents were in favour of keeping the parking meters switched off until the end of the 2021 calendar year.
“This is in line with feedback from our Chambers of Commerce, who told us this measure will assist businesses during the post-lockdown recovery phase until the end of the year,” Mayor Porteous said.
