Street parking charge flattens drivers

Parking on the street for less than 20 minutes in the Wollongong city centre will be more expensive than on-street parking in the Sydney CBD, unless drivers can snare one of 32 free-for-15-minutes spaces.Flat $2 fees in the CBD will make Wollongong one of the most expensive councils in NSW for a short-term on-street spot when paid parking begins on March 22.The city will have 850 paid on-street spaces, covered by 141 pay and display ticket machines.The Mercury contacted seven other regional and city councils with paid on-street parking and found that none had a flat fee and all allowed motorists to pay for less time on a pro-rata basis. But in Wollongong, a flat $2 fee will apply for half-hour, one-hour and two-hour parking spaces, even if motorists are in the spaces for just a fraction of the time.At $6 per hour, the Sydney CBD was the most expensive place to park on the street. But anything less than 20 minutes is still cheaper than $2.Canberra was the cheapest city for on-street parking, ranging from $0.80 to $1.50 per hour, followed by Cairns at $1 per hour.Geelong and Newcastle's hourly rates were similar to Wollongong's, while Parramatta, Waverley and Sydney City had the most expensive hourly rates. All were cheaper than Wollongong for short-stay parking.Wollongong City Council general manager David Farmer said the flat rate was designed for "simplicity and ease of use". "It does exist in other places, but it isn't common," he said.But Illawarra Business Chamber president Les Dion was sceptical of what the flat fee would achieve."We want to encourage people to come to town and get circulation of parking in the CBD," he said."The flat rate doesn't lend itself to that. I haven't come across it anywhere I have been."He said it would be hard to predict if the model would work since there was nowhere to compare it with. The convenor of Neighbourhood Forum 5, which covers the city centre and surrounding suburbs, said residents had only recently become aware that the $2 would be a flat fee. "It wasn't made clear in the earlier consultation," convenor Felix Bronneberg said. "Our view is that in regards to addressing the car parking and traffic problems, this is an isolated measure. There should be a co-ordinated approach and to addressing the CBD parking and traffic problems."Mr Farmer said the half-hour zones in the "city core" were the most in-demand so they attracted a $2 fee for a shorter time."You will pay more for better spots, like for better seats at a sporting event," he said.