Claremont will remain a predominantly free parking town.
Camera IconClaremont will remain a predominantly free parking town. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Claremont to remain predominantly free parking town

Giovanni TorreWestern Suburbs Weekly

CLAREMONT will remain a predominantly free parking town for the foreseeable future after councillors allowed a recommendation to introduce new regulations to lapse at last month’s meeting.

No members of the council were prepared to move a motion to authorise the introduction of a new off-street and on-street parking management system within the North East Precinct Zone (NEPZ1).

Deputy Mayor Peter Browne noted that the call for someone to move the motion was met with “deathly silence”.

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“There is no appetite for paid parking. A great deal can be achieved with timed parking without going to paid parking,” he said.

“There will only be one survivor out of Claremont, Cottesloe and Subiaco – you only need to look at Subiaco to see what paid parking has done to the community.”

The NEPZ1 area now has a capacity for 421 off-street parking bays and 102 on-street bays under control of the Town. Not all are marked.

It will house the Public Transport Authority’s 200-bay underground Park and Ride area currently under construction. This is due to open this, at which time the two temporary off-street carparks that provide just under 200 bays for rail commuters will close.

The Council heard that there is high demand for long-term off-street parking and a low demand for short-term (two-hour) off-street parking.

Cr Jill Goetze moved an alternative motion to introduce long-term parking that allowed the first two hours free, advertised for public comment.

The alternative motion was defeated with concerns raised that it was the thin edge of the paid parking wedge.

Mayor Jock Barker said the Town was at least “five years off” introducing paid parking in earnest and councillors resolved to send the parking report back to Town staff for further analysis.