by Luke Voogt
A central Geelong trader “losing customers” struggling to find parking has urged council to “open up” Civic Centre Car Park during off-peak hours.
“We need this car park,” restaurant owner Milton Mavromoustakos told the Indy yesterday.
“I’m losing business to people cancelling because they can’t find parking. On Saturday we’re losing customers and that centre is completely empty.”
The carpark is free after 6pm on weekdays and on weekends but the top three levels are only available for permit holders.
The boom gates to the top three levels remained closed on evenings and weekends, denying parkers without permits access, Mr Mavromoustakos explained.
This defeated the purpose of free parking, with casual parkers only able to use the ground floor, he said.
“(Council is) trying to bring people into the city but they don’t do anything to keep them here. If people keep coming here and can’t find parking they’ll never come back.”
Brownbill ward councillor Eddy Kontelj described opening the top three levels as a “great idea” but warned it would require more planning.
“I think we can make better use of those carparks,” he said.
“But it’s not as simple as turning it on or off. If you’ve paid for a permit you’re going to want access to that 24/7.”
Council would have to devise system to ensure permit holders still had access to parking they had paid for, Cr Kontelj said.
City Hall’s acting planning director Steve Sodomaco confirmed traders had approached council about the issue.
“We’re examining options at the moment and plan on contacting the traders in the near future with our response,” he said.
The call comes after council on Monday released the results of a parking survey, in which 32 per cent of respondents said $3-$6 was “fair” for all-day parking.
Eight per cent supported free all-day parking while 21 and 24 per cent respectively supported $6-$9 and $9-$12 per day.
Eleven per cent supported free one-hour parking while 35 and 33 per cent respectively supported less than $1 and $1-$2 for one hour.
