Resident call for say on parking

Horsham residents can have their say on a new draft car-park management plan designed to improve parking circumstances in the rural city.

Horsham Rural City Council has developed the plan, which features an extension of onehour parking areas to two-hour parking and some four-hour zones on the fringe of the city to become two-hour zones.

Horsham mayor Robyn Gulline said the new plan represented an effort to make it easier for people to shop, visit and do business in central Horsham.

“The focus of the new plan is to support business activity by encouraging the turnover of on-street parking spaces,” she said.

“The proposed changes will also provide a simplified zone arrangement that enables shoppers time to complete their visit to the central business district without having to continuously return to their car to top up meters or move to another location.

“For many people in the city, one hour is not long enough to complete their shopping. But two hours is sufficient.”

As part of the review, a community-based project reference group has provided Horsham district knowledge and guidance about parking issues in the city’s commercial precinct.

The group found that the extensive number and scattered nature of parking restrictions was confusing, particularly for visitors.

It also reported that parking restrictions after 5pm were redundant because most retailers were closed by that time of day.

Other issues raised by the group was a need for more accessible parking and that fourhour bays were generally in inappropriate locations.

People have until 5pm on April 30 to provide feedback to council on the draft.

“We want to hear from the community about the proposed plan and policy, to guide the council’s final decision,” Cr Gulline said.

“I encourage people to view the recommended changes on our council website, oursay.org/horshamruralcitycouncil/parkingplan and share their feedback via our online have-your-say page.”