GOOD NEWS ON PARKING!

After more than 3 years of consultation, discussion and debate, parking changes are on the way for the streets of North Adelaide. I proposed and Anne Moran seconded a motion that Council recently approved unanimously to begin discouraging City commuters from using the suburb as a parking lot.

Half of all untimed and 10 hour on street parking bays will be converted in the coming months to timed zones, for example 2 hours or 4 hours. This will be a positive for many residents who can't park during the day on the street near their home and for residents with visitors who have trouble finding a park. Customers of local businesses will now be able to park on street for a leisurely shop or lunch and the staff of our local businesses will now have the option of parking in 4 hour bays.

The conversion of untimed and 10 hour bays will only occur after consultation with elected Councillors, so if you have a view about what should happen in your street please contact me as soon as possible so I can work for the best possible outcome for you.

THE BIG CHANGE, HOWEVER, IS THAT COUNCIL HAS AGREED EVERY RESIDENCE IN NORTH ADELAIDE THAT HAS NO OFF STREET PARKING OR HAS ONLY ONE OFF STREET CAR PARKING SPACE WILL BE ENTITLED TO AN ON STREET PARKING PERMIT FOR A NOMINATED VEHICLE REGISTERED TO THAT ADDRESS. These new permits will have no impact on existing residential parking permits, will allow parking in designated areas each day for 24 hours and will initially be limited to one thousand two hundred permits.

Council staff are working through the detail of how all of aspects of the scheme will be implemented, including how to apply for a permit and the cost.

AND THE CITY HAS ALSO BEGUN IMMEDIATE PLANNING FOR THE INTRODUCTION BY NO LATER THAN THE END OF THIS YEAR OF A SCHEME TO ALLOW NORTH ADELAIDE BUSINESS RATEPAYERS ACCESS TO ON STREET PERMITS IN AREAS CURRENTLY UTILISED FOR CITY COMMUTER PARKING TO HELP EASE PARKING CONGESTION AROUND O'CONNELL AND MELBOURNE STREETS.

All of these measures will be trialled for one year to test how well they work and, if necessary, to tweak them changes.