Council has
called a Special Meeting at City Hall tomorrow night (Thursday 4 July) to
discuss on-street car parking fees in central Geelong.
Beginning at 7pm, the meeting will be open to the public and live streamed via
www.geelongaustralia.com.au/meetings.
Mayor Bruce Harwood has called the Special Meeting on behalf of all councillors
in response to community concern over price increases for all-day, 3-hour and
4-hour capped on street parking in the CBD.
The report to be discussed by council acknowledges that several price rises in
the 2019-20 budget were unintentionally not exhibited to the community.
These include:
- Capped
all-day on-street parking from $5.80 to $13; - 3-hour
parking capped from $5.80 to $7; - 4-hour
parking capped from $3.50 to $8; and - 4-hour
parking capped (high occupancy) from $5.80 to $9.
The report by City of Greater Geelong officers states that, “As consultation
did not occur, it is appropriate that council seek to implement actions that
restore faith in the process.”
Under the Local Government Act, the Mayor or at least three councillors may call
a special meeting to discuss a specific issue.
The agenda for tomorrow night’s meeting is available now.
Mayor Bruce Harwood:
Council acknowledges the angst in our community caused by the rise in
parking fees in central Geelong.While the intention of the changes was to bring parity to parking prices, the
community was not properly informed and the implementation was flawed.We are looking forward to meeting tomorrow night to decide how we will address
this situation.
Councillor Stephanie Asher, Chair, Strategy and Communications
portfolio:
The council is very much united on this issue and we felt it was important
to meet as soon as possible to find a solution.We encourage the community to tune in via the live stream to hear what we have
to say and witness the outcome.
