Council sorry for noisy Salamanca works
HOBART City Council has apologised for noisy works during busy lunchtime periods at Salamanca — which raised the ire of tourists.
As part of the final stages of its rollout of a new parking system — costing almost $4 million — council contractors are working on the final major area that doesn’t yet have the in-ground parking sensors in Salamanca Place.
But the work yesterday during the busy lunch period did not go down well, with numerous tourists contacting the Mercury complaining about loud noises from jackhammers.
Hobart general manager Nick Heath said once the council became aware of the issue it got the work stopped and he apologised for the disruption.
“Our contractors are in the final stages of installing inground parking sensors, with Salamanca Place being the last major area,” he said.
“The installation works in Salamanca had a greater noise impact than expected because of its concrete pavers, rather than bitumen in other installation areas.
“We accept that today’s installation works during the busy lunchtime trade was disruptive and we apologise for that.
“When we became aware of the issue, we instructed our contractors to cease work immediately and have altered the installation schedule for the coming days to ensure busy dining periods are avoided.”
The installation includes 1800 sensors and 310 multipayment option parking metres as part of a new system costing nearly $3.9 million.
The system will also include a Pay-by-Phone application service provided by EasyPark.
The council has committed nearly $3.9 million to the project. This includes $980,000 for the sensors, $2.64 million for the meters and $275,000 for software and installation.