MORNINGTON Peninsula Council is considering a paid parking trial along some of its busiest foreshore areas.
The move at this week’s public meeting (Tuesday) is believed to have been instigated because of parking congestion over summer, and the increasing costs involved in providing tourism-related infrastructure.
Ratepayers now pay $8 million a year for the maintenance of foreshore-related council infrastructure, such as car parks, public toilets and access paths.
Last summer brought the issue of lack of parking to a head, with council flooded with complaints that residents were effectively blocked from parking at shopping centres, in residential streets and near foreshore areas because of the large numbers of tourists taking up the spots.
On Tuesday council will vote on whether to go ahead with the pilot scheme that will see peninsula visitors pay for parking at Schnapper Point, Mornington, Sunnyside North beach, Mount Eliza, and Flinders pier foreshore, Flinders.
There is no plan to introduce paid parking for peninsula residents, but paid parking may be extended to other council-managed car parks.
The mayor Cr Steve Holland said a paid parking pilot would “test a user pays system for visitors to contribute to the cost of maintaining foreshore infrastructure”.
“Many thousands of visitors come to the peninsula to enjoy our beaches. They shop, buy food and drinks and provide a huge boost to the local economy,” he said. “But it also causes significant parking congestion at our foreshores.”
First Published in the Southern Peninsula News – 30th May 2023
