Eurobodalla Shire Councillors have voted five to four to remove pay parking in the Batemans Bay CBD.
In a Mayoral Report to today’s Council meeting, the last one for the year, Mayor Liz Innes called for pay parking to be removed from the Clyde Street and Perry Street car parks by 23 December.
Councillors Jack Tait, Maureen Nathan, Pat McGinlay and Phil Constable voted with the Mayor.
Councillors Lindsay Brown, Rob Pollock, James Thomson and Anthony Mayne were against the proposal.
The Local Traffic Committee will now be asked to agree to a three-hour parking limit in both streets, to be in place by 23 December when pay parking is removed.
Pay parking has been in place in Batemans Bay since 2003 and Council uses the funds for improvements in the Bay CBD.
The projected return for 2016-17 is around $78,000, which Mayor Innes pointed out in the meeting is less than 0.1 per cent of Council’s annual budget.
Clr Innes’ report states that business groups in Batemans Bay have consistently raised their concerns with the imposition of pay parking and its impact on businesses and the community.
Clr Innes said the removal of pay parking before the 2016 Christmas period “would send a very positive signal to the business community and provide a more welcoming message to visitors to Eurobodalla that we want them to come to, enjoy and share our beautiful part of the world.”
Budget adjustments will be submitted to Council as part of the December 2016 budget review.
Media Release
