The plan to install parking meters in the Wollongong CBD is not a popular decision. It seems to be a case of inflicting punishment when an opportunity exists to bestow a reward.
One fact stands out as the reason that we have a parking problem. The people who work in the Wollongong CBD drive cars - and they seek to park as close as legally possible to their place of work. As a result, the CBD fringe - beyond the restricted parking zones - is filled with all day parked worker's cars, limiting parking for the shopping public.
We already have in place a big part of the parking solution.
The free shuttle buses ferry people around the fringe of the CBD and all that is needed is secure mass parking to allow city workers to park and ride the shuttle to their jobs in the city - and return to their cars in the same way when work ceases.
At the same time, extend parking limits on the present unrestricted all day parking streets surrounding the CBD so that driving to work and all day parking means a very inconvenient walk for those who persist in driving.
The hard decisions have already been made - and implemented. The shuttle buses exist and are being supported. The money has been spent to acquire the buses and the running times mean nobody has a long wait for transport.
The only thing lacking is fringe parking facilities to allow city workers to park and ride - and there are opportunities begging to solve this problem. On the Princes Highway in Fairy Meadow we have the appalling mess of the old indoor cricket centre and the abandoned Campbell's warehouse with huge vacant ground areas attached.
Instead of spending a fortune on parking meters, that money would be better spent in acquiring these and similar sites and turning them into satellite car parks to better service the city centre.
We are already half way there in solving our parking problems. Now all it takes is a little imaginative thinking to finish the job !
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