Melbourne parking fees hiked by 30 per cent
The City of Melbourne will increase parking fees. Photo: Getty
Parking a car in the Melbourne CBD will increase to $7 an hour under draft budget plans released by Town Hall on Tuesday.
Fees will rise by $1.50 an hour in the central city (a 27 per cent increase), and by between 20 and 80 cents on the outskirts of the city.
A worker using council-owned parking spaces in the CBD would spend an extra $13.5 for a nine-hour day, or $67.50 a week, under the plans.
Parking meters would reap more than $52 million under the proposed increases, up almost $6 million on the current financial year.
The fee hike comes after a rapid decline in the number of parking spaces, which had reduced the revenue earned by the council.
“Since 2011, there has been a 22 per cent decrease in parking spots in the CBD along with a 5 per cent reduction outside the central city area,” council said in a statement on Tuesday.
“To offset this decline in revenue and maintain our investment in services and infrastructure, we are increasing fees for on- and off-street parking.”
More spaces are expected to be lost to major infrastructure projects across the city.
The $1.50 per hour increase in the CBD would bring the cost into line with on-street parking in the City of Sydney.
It’s the first time parking fees have increased since 2013.
An additional $1.3 million in parking fines have also been budgeted for over the 2018-19 financial year, taking revenue to almost $42 million.
Parking meters will also undergo a $1 million renewal.
The draft budget detailed how $576 million would be spent over 2018-19. It includes $5.5 million for road improvements and $4 million for better footpaths.
Cyclists will get a $1.1 million upgrade to the bike network in Southbank Boulevard, Carlton, North Melbourne, Kensington and Southbank. Another 500 bike storage hoops will be fitted across the council area.
The number of visitors to the CBD is expected to reach 1.4 million a day by 2036, up from the 911,000 currently.
“The state and federal budgets have talked about the unprecedented population growth and infrastructure investment: but City of Melbourne is where the rubber hits the road,” acting Lord Mayor and finance and governance portfolio chair Arron Wood said in a statement.
“That’s why this budget delivers record investment on programs and services to keep Melburnians safe, ensure they have access to the best parks and gardens, clean streets, new community infrastructure and maintains our investment on our events, visitor and business services that are so vital for our economic growth and prosperity.”
Council considered the draft budget at a special meeting on Tuesday afternoon, and will accept public submissions until June 13. A final version will be taken to council on June 26.
Results of the byelection for lord mayor will begin to be made public on Friday.