Parking meters.

Parking meters ? Or free parking ? That's the question Wollongong has to ponder !

There was never a worse time to introduce a parking tax - for that is what parking meters represent.
Citizens are used to free parking and it is a certainty that some will avoid the city in favour of the free parking facilities of perimeter shopping centres if the plan goes ahead.

There is also the present financial meltdown. We are entering hard times with consumer spending under stress. That is hardly conducive to introducing a charge that customers can avoid by shopping elsewhere - where parking is free.

It is also worth considering that parking meters will actually decrease the number of cars that can park in city streets.

Each designated metered space must be capable of accommodating the biggest sedan or station wagon on our roads - and this is at a time when most new buyers are deciding on smaller cars because of petrol prices.

Unrestricted kerbside parking allows a bigger number of smaller cars to park in comparison with metered spaces - and then there is the trend to motorcycles and scooters.

Short of legislation to prohibit the practice, a two wheeler rider has every right to park in a metered space - provided he or she pays the metered fee. It is less clear whether several two wheelers could use that same space legally.

Those proposing parking meters suggest they will be needed to head off a future parking shortage. They will cost two million dollars to buy and install - and it will take seven years to recoup those outlays.

The damage they will do to shopping patronage will be immediate, hence this is a decision that could safely be left for the future.

One of the great attractions of this city of Wollongong is that it is not Sydney - with all the hassles of too many people, too many cars, too fast a pace of life.

Lets keep it that way !