The festive season is a great time to have an Epiphany. Delight and good-humour abounds in Batemans Bay with the decommissioning of paid parking, on the initiative of Mayor Liz Innes. Business Houses, Shoppers, (local and tourist,) are indeed using this Christmas Bonus to full advantage. Whilst doing last minute Christmas shopping, a comment was made about the difficulty elderly and slow moving people have in using the 1/2 hour parking to get to the post office or bank. This even more so with the long queues. My colleague Clr Phil Constable and I have been asked if the parking limits could be changed. Having been in business, we are very aware of the need to have a turn over of parking facilities (some of the logic for paid parking). As a pharmacist (retired) I am aware of the procedure and the limitations involved for medical practitioners to fill in forms for patients who need to get a "disabled parking permit". Similarly there is a recognised duration of healing period post-operatively. Some shires have stickers for ratepayers to use on their windscreens to exempt them from paid parking. Put these issues together, and we propose to give a notice of motion to council for our first meeting in 2017 , to the effect that "the ESC create and trial a new community service. a DOUBLE TIME parking sticker, which would allow a vehicle to park double the time. " Blank stickers could be given to medical practitioners in the Eurobodalla, to fill in the section Valid Till, and the car registration number. Someone who is temporarily incapacitated, e.g. post operative Knee replacement, could be given 6 weeks. Someone who can get around, but moves slowly e.g the elderly, might be given 12 months. Duration would be at the discretion of the medical practitioners. Cost should be minimal. We do not foresee medical practitioners refusing the minute it would take within an existing consultation. Rangers would need to be a little more aware, and we would have a very grateful section of the community. We would be very interested in having feedback from shire residents and ratepayers as to this proposition. Clr Maureen Nathan Clr Phil Constable
