A MAJORITY of Mornington Peninsula Shire councillors have emphatically shown that they want car parking near Flinders pier to be part of a paid parking trial.
A move by Cr David Gill to have Flinders removed from this summer’s trial was defeated by a vote of seven to two at last week’s public meeting (8 August).
Cr Antonella Celi was Gill’s sole supporter. Councillors against excluding Flinders from the trial were Despi O’Connor, Anthony Marsh, Lisa Dixon, Susan Bissinger, Debra Mar, Simon Brooks and the mayor Steve Holland.
Parking at Flinders, Schnapper Point, Mornington, and Sunnyside beach, Mount Eliza will cost $6.20 an hour under the trial, except for those displaying ePermits issued by the shire.
After the meeting Gill said he was disappointed with the outcome as there had been “overwhelming rejection” of the paid parking scheme by the Flinders community (“Call to ditch paid parking at Flinders pier” The News 13/7/23).
He believed the trial was “entirely about revenue, as foreshore locations are not about turnover of parking spaces because most people decide to spend a half day or a day at the beach”.
“We should have trialled main tourist locations, not small areas like Flinders pier just because they are easy to monitor,” Gill said.
“We will have no knowledge of whether it will be financially viable on large stretches of coastline and will be risking $1 million [the estimated cost of the trail] on the small pilots.”
Marcus Harris, the shire’s major projects coordination team leader, in a report on the meeting agenda said further investigating the trial scheme would have “serious implications on the ability to meet the timeframe” for the planned summer trial.
He said the three parking areas chosen for the trail “ranked highest” in the selection criteria.
“The simple configuration of how cars enter and exit at Sunnyside and Flinders pier provides the best environment to trial vehicle identification (VID) camera technology and software, while Schnapper Point also allows the testing of a broader range of business rules and impacts in a more complex situation,” Harris said.
He said Flinders and Sunnyside had a similar number of car parking spaces and Flinders was “also seen as an ideal pilot site given its separation from the main commercial area and provides an opportunity to test if visitor paid parking in smaller car parks will generate revenue”.
“More importantly, it will be vital in helping council determine the viability of visitor paid parking within foreshore car parks on the Western Port side of the peninsula.”
Shire officers were “finalising the rules … to minimise the impact on local businesses”.
“The introduction of these new site-specific business rules … will alleviate many of the concerns for businesses at Flinders” that needed to park large vehicles near the pier.
Harris said the trial was “not solely about revenue” and “aims to improve turnover, trial new technology and test business rules” before deciding if paid parking should be introduced throughout the shire.
First published in the Western Port News – 16 August 2023
