The City of Greater Geelong has introduced a new
parking initiative as part of the 2021-22 Council Budget.
From Monday 5 July motorists will be able to pay for 1 hour
of parking and get the second hour free in all 2P parking zones in central Geelong.
This initiative
will replace the free 30 minutes in 2P parking zones previously trialled by
Council.
To make use of the
new initiative, customers pay for one hour of parking and the system will
automatically provide them with one additional hour of free parking.
The additional hour
is provided to the vehicle rather than to a fixed parking bay, which provides
greater flexibility for visitors to the CBD.
Innovative payments solutions for on street parking continue to be available, including pay-by-phone
apps EziCom and EasyPark, as well as payWave technology.
This technology,
along with the requirement for registration numbers to be entered in at parking
meters, eliminates the need for motorists to display a ticket in their vehicle.
The 15-minute grace period that lets drivers get back to
their car before parking limits are enforced will continue
Deputy Mayor Trent Sullivan said the offer was included in the 2021-22 Council Budget to act as an incentive for people to stay longer in central Geelong and support more CBD businesses.
Data shows that
the typical length of stay in a 2P park is 58 mins, so this initiative has been
introduced to help extend the time of these visits and provide more opportunity
for spending.
This is an
innovative solution that benefits both the businesses and visitors to Central
Geelong.
Councillor Eddy Kontelj said Council was committed to supporting the
community, central Geelong businesses and increasing expenditure and visitation
to our CBD.
I am absolutely thrilled.
This on-street free parking initiative, available all week days, is
unprecedented.
Coupled with the already free on-street weekend parking, we are now
demonstrating to the community and to CBD businesses that we are listening and
we really care.
We want visitors to the CBD to have an exceptional experience, where it
is easy to do business, shop and socialise.
The parking initiative comes in addition to Council freezing the
average movement on commercial rates and removing the Central Geelong Marketing
(CGM) levy.
This past year has been incredibly tough for CBD businesses and we are
taking every avenue to deliver a much-needed boost by drawing more people into
the city, and encouraging them to stay longer.
The new initiative will be reviewed at the end of the 2021-22 financial year as
part of future budget considerations.