Smart meters are such a dumb idea
THERE is nothing surprising about the headline, CBD business owners label parking in Townsville “awful, crippling”, to anyone who has braved a brisk lunch or shopping trip only to be greeted by a mood-busting parking ticket under the windscreen wiper on their return.
What is surprising is that this headline isn’t recent, it’s from October 2017, when business owners slammed Townsville City Council over the diabolical parking situation. Back then, there was room for optimism, with one business owner saying, “It would be nice if they had a big multi-level carpark for people in the city. It will be interesting when the CBD stadium goes in.”
Aah, won’t it just.
I’ve lost count of how much column space I’ve dedicated to this topic over the years, but if reader feedback is any indication, few wish to pay for the privilege of a rushed visit to what was once a welcoming leafy oasis of activity, entertainment, retail therapy and quirky arcades. Now there’s little to recommend the added bonus of sunburn while crossing any intersection back to a baking hot car, and the risk of a fine when you could spend far less on a feed and a shop at an airconditioned suburban shopping centre.
What is most surprising is that with the Townsville City Council offices located in the city, decisionmakers have witnessed first-hand the effects of their actions, yet appear to be doubling their efforts to ensure the city encourages major developments while at the same time driving potential patrons away. We can’t turn back the clock to regain the unique character of our city centre, but with the two
busiest aspects of the CBD, City Lane, and the supermarket adjoining it invisible to through traffic, paid parking provides no incentive to stop and explore the seemingly barren streetscape.
And while the council has offered free parking during the festive season for the few resilient retailers that are left, once the busiest time of year is over, parking fees return with a vengeance when businesses need shoppers the most.
Now, we are told that the paid parking system currently in place, that remains a hindrance to
visitors, will be replaced by a new, “smart” one. Don’t ask for details or costings though, that “transparency” voters have been clamouring for is still a foreign concept when it comes to knowing exactly how our rates are spent.
What we do know is that the council can’t have it both ways. We are yet to see incentives for office buildings to be converted to student accommodation, university towns across the globe not only define cities and provide a vibrant culture, but offer a readymade hospitality workforce, and now that Covid has seen workers shift to their loungerooms, what better time to offer enticements to repurpose empty offices than now?
My suggestion of “opportunistic parking” like Melbourne’s solution for motorbikes and scooters repeatedly falls on deaf ears, yet with traffic congestion a growing issue, why would anyone continue to endorse a tiny scooter taking up an entire carparking space?
With Covid battering an already suffering sector, surely it’s a better strategy for the city to incentivise, not penalise?
1760
The French are defeated by British under Eyre Coote at Wandiwash near Pondicherry, ending the French presence in India.
1821
Russian explorer Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen discovers Peter I Island, the first sighting of land within the Antarctic Circle.
1879
A British force of just over 120 begins its successful defence against a force of 5000 Zulus at The Battle of Rorke’s Drift.
1901
Queen Victoria, 81, the then longest-reigning of all British monarchs, dies after 63 years of rule. She is succeeded by her son Edward VII.
1905
On what is later known as
Bloody Sunday, Russian workers marching on St Petersburg are fired on by Russian troops.
1931
The federal Arbitration Court, sitting in Melbourne, orders a 10 per cent wage cut for all workers under national awards.
1941
Italian forces of about 25,000 men surrender the Libyan city of Tobruk to the Australian 6th Division.
1943
Australian troops finish moppingup operations around Sanananda, ending the Papuan campaign.
1946
The pilot of a light plane, Eric Alfred Hurst, 29, dies when he crashes into Tamarama Bay while doing stunts.
1957
George Metesky, 54, New York’s “Mad Bomber’’, is arrested and charged with planting more than 30 bombs. He is later found insane and sent to an asylum.
1960
John Konrads, 17, breaks the world 220yd freestyle swimming record when he clocks 2min 1.9sec at North Sydney Pool during the third heat of the state championships.
2008
Australian actor Heath Ledger, pictured, is found dead in a New York apartment.