Timed parking on the agenda

Continued from front page Cr Michelle Smith, who seconded the motion, said business owners should be consulted as they had firsthand knowledge of parking problems.

“As the owner of a Forrest Street business for 20 years, I would like to have been consulted,” she said.

“Like other business owners, I know about the problems, I would see them on a daily basis, and even those owners who only call in once a week to check up on their business know as well, as it is often impossible to get a parking spot.”

Cr Smith said she had complained in the past about parking problems, but noone had listened to her.

“I have ideas about parking, but no-one asked me,” she said.

“There are opportunities to provide more parking if some of the small gardens, islands and footpaths are removed from around the Margaretta Wilson Centre, for instance.

“There is too much cement and attempts to make things look pretty, and they don’t work.”

Included in the successful motion were proposals to designate a taxi-only parking bay on Forrest Street, close to the front of the Boulevard Shopping Centre, and to liaise with private landowners to provide taxi-only parking bays close to the entrances to the town’s two supermarkets.

Other proposals included a review of alternative locations, and for Australian Standard-compliant disabled bays to be located close to the entrance to the two local pharmacies.