PINGED 77 FINES PER DAY
Council signs off on 28,190 parking tickets in 2017 as new rules roll in
RETAILERS have mixed feelings over paid parking on Saturday and Sunday in the Cairns CBD after new regulations were introduced.
The axing of free weekend parking and a hike in hourly rates and fines come as new figures reveal that Cairns Regional Council parking inspectors dished out fines 77 times a day last year, ranging from $50 to more than $180 each.
Some traders say it will increase customer turnover while others say buyers will go to suburban shopping centres with free parking.
PARKING inspectors were given the weekend off as new paid parking rules took effect in the CBD of Cairns.
Cairns Regional Council allowed a two-day grace period for drivers to adjust to the changes, which eliminate free weekend parking, raise the hourly rate and stretch out ticketed hours.
It was a rare reprieve. New council figures reveal 28,190 fines were issued last year, beginning at $50-a-pop and maxing to more than $180, compared to just 23,443 in 2016. It worked out to about 77 fines per day.
The council attributed the steep incline to two factors: 2016 was considered a lean year due to a changeover to new parking meters and construction works in the CBD.
The council’s “licence plate recognition” vehicle also started targeting rogue centre space parkers in December 2016, further elevating last year’s infringement figures.
Ticket-printers will be back on the beat this week to enforce the new rules, which have elicited mixed reviews from inner-city traders.
Rusty’s Markets manager Justin Welch heralded them as a win, while others feared customers would be pushed out to the city’s suburban fringes.
“The parking change in the CBD is and will be good for Rusty’s to keep up turnover and give as many customers as possible a chance to locate a car space outside the market,” Mr Welch said.
Veteran men’s fashion busi- nessman Victor Mellick urged the council to go a step further and remove free centre-parking and to ensure lingerers were properly penalised.
“People who work in shops just need to learn to get a parking spot and move on,” he said.
Sing Sing Espresso owner Richard Mindenhall said Saturday’s trade was slow, bringing into question the wisdom of the shift to paid parking.
“I think CBD traders are now competing with the suburbs,” he said.
“Shopping centres like Smithfield, Earlville and Mount Sheridan all supply ample free parking.
“It’s ludicrous to think that charging on a weekend could be an incentive for people to come to the CBD.”
The Downunder Bar owner Harry Treklis called the change a “tax you’re getting without saying it’s a tax” that would drive away potential customers.
He said people should be allowed to have a beer and leave their car overnight without facing steep fines unless they picked it up by 8.30am.
“To me, it just seems like a money grab,” he said.