Paid parks pack TRC coffers

Council has $80k more this year under new charges

PAID parking in the CBD is earning the Toowoomba Regional Council more than $3 million a year.

The Chronicle can reveal the council stands to make an extra $80,000 in the coming financial year, following price increases for parking in the city.

Under the changes, paid parking will now cost an extra 10 cents per hour and up to 50c per day.

The TRC says the cash goes into funding parking inspectors and technology upgrades.

THE Toowoomba Regional Council will earn more than $3 million in the coming financial year from paid street parking in the CBD.

New charges introduced earlier this month, increasing the cost of street parking by 10 cents per hour and up to 50 cents per day, will earn another $80,000 over the coming 12 months from motorists based on the council’s current estimates.

Infrastructure portfolio leader Cr James O’Shea said the council earned $2.95 million in the previous year, with the charge increases going towards upgrading equipment and new pay options.

“Over the past couple of years, council has also upgraded services throughout the CBD on projects such as the refurbishment of Station St car park, building a new car park on Julia St and upgrading lighting throughout all our car parks,” he said.

“Council continues to look at ways to improve parking services to ensure that Toowoomba remains a modern and attractive city for residents and visitors alike, including smart parking initiatives, and upgrading car parks with LED lighting and security improvements.

“The 2018-19 budget has been estimated at $3.03 million based on the 2017-18 usage.

“This figure may vary, as we can’t predict whether people will continue to park for as long or as often as they have over the past year.”

The council also accrued about $860,000 in parking fines during the 2016-17 financial year.