Maribyrnong councillors remain at loggerheads over paid parking in Yarraville as losses stemming from the impasse head towards the million-dollar mark.
Councillors last Tuesday voted to keep parking meters turned off in Yarraville village and central Footscray until a new parking policy is prepared in coming months.
An estimated $600,000 has already been foregone since paid parking was suspended in December.
Last week’s council meeting revealed clear animosity remaining between Labor and independent councillors over the introduction of parking meters to Yarraville last August.
Cr Nam Quach said there had been “some very disappointing elements” to the 18-month campaign against the meters.
“I fully acknowledge that the dynamics of the paid parking have some peculiarities. However, the overall result is that … [when the meters were operating] visitations rose,” he said.
Cr Quach called for a draft policy “that is applied to the whole city, not excluding areas where there is extreme violence and vandalism and conjecture”.
Cr Michael Clarke accused Cr Quach of being misleading, given the biggest increase in parking turnover was during Sundays when parking was free.
“I really hoped we were going to [move] from what was armchair conjecture to an evidence-based approach,” he said.
“You clutch at straws, looking at any piece of evidence to support your own argument, to try and put lipstick on a pig.”
Cr Grant Miles said there was merit to the ‘thermostat’ model suggested by transport policy specialists Phillip Boyle and Associates in their parking report.
“We can use that in Yarraville, in terms of early in the morning when they were under-used,” he said. Cr Martin Zakharov linked parking fees with the four Yarraville businesses that closed during the paid parking trial period.
“I’m not saying that was the only issue, but you don’t normally find that many businesses in a fairly vibrant shopping strip disappearing in that period of time,” Cr Zakharov said.
Cr Sarah Carter said a new policy was two years overdue and could have saved “years of heartache” for council, residents and traders.
Mayor Cameron McDonald said the parking policy would take the issue away from councillors and hand it to the chief executive.
