A WILLIAMSTOWN woman has slammed Hobsons Bay Council for not allowing visitors with a valid visitor parking permit to park for free in the street of her shop and residence.
Patty Kavadias, of Schwabs Galley in Nelson Place, said she learned the hard way after one visitor was booked.
“I’ve been using my visitor’s permit for 15 years and this is the first time I’ve ever been booked,” Ms Kavadias said.
“Why have a visitor’s permit?
“It’s not as if we have six permits each. We have one permit and we don’t use it on a daily basis.”
Ms Kavadias said she subsequently discovered that the closest places where her visitors could park were Cole or Thompson streets.
She said no other council made visitors park in a different street.
Hobsons Bay Council has issued 1047 visitor permits, which don’t apply in ticketed areas.
Parking fees in Nelson Place are $12 a day or $3 per hour from 9am-10pm.
Last calendar year, the council reaped $641,571 in parking-meter revenue and $1,255,809 in parking fines.
Business and finance director Glenn O’Sullivan said visitor parking in Nelson Place and the Esplanade was restricted so “our shopping centres and local traders are not ‘choked’ by all-day parking”.
He said visitors could park in these streets but they had to buy a ticket even with a permit. “Visitor permits are issued to residents living in time-restricted streets only,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “Visitor permits have always had a condition that they don’t exempt the user from paying parking fees in ticket machine areas in Nelson Place or the Esplanade.” Williamstown Chamber of Commerce president Sash Boseovski said he did not understand the council’s logic.
