Business dries up as meters move in Author: Justin Norrie Urban Affairs Reporter Date: 18/07/2006 Publication: Sydney Morning Herald
SYDNEY'S growing phalanx of parking meters is crippling its shopping streets by pushing customers into free mega-mall car parks, small businesses say.
Several Bondi business owners are considering a class action against Waverley Council after protesting for two years about a drastic slump in sales that has caused more than a dozen closures. Shoppers are charged $3 an hour between 8am and 10pm to park in most streets around Bondi Beach, and $5 in some areas, but pay nothing for the first two hours at Westfield, Bondi Junction.
Leichhardt Council recently lifted the hourly rate for its parking meters from $2.20 to $2.90, and Ryde Council will install hundreds of meters in the Macquarie Park corridor next year.
Parramatta Council is one of a handful to buck the trend, recently promising to drop its hourly rate from $3.60 to $2 after a campaign by businesses that watched shoppers disappear in the direction of Parramatta Westfield.
And Burwood Council last month abandoned a four-month trial of meter parking at Burwood Plaza Shopping Centre in the face of pressure from residents.
The acting president of the Bondi and Districts Chamber of Commerce, Max Siano, said legal action would be a "last-ditch measure if the Waverley Council doesn't give us some common sense on this. We're only in discussions at the moment and there are signs they might be willing to work with us - but if not, it could come to that.
"Shops are closing, businesses going to the wall, there is real white-hot fury on this," he said.
But the Mayor of Waverley, Mora Main, said businesses should assess the quality of their trade before blaming meters. "It's a democracy and they're free to [take legal action], but we'd rather work with them co-operatively on this," she said.
The council raised $4.26 million from parking meters last financial year and $4.38 million the year before, but insists the meters are traffic-flow devices, not revenue-raising tools.
The restaurateur Louie Ajaka believes otherwise. His Fishy Bite restaurant at Bronte Beach has suffered a 40 per cent slide in takings since Waverley introduced $4.50-an-hour meters along Bronte Road five years ago.
Mr Ajaka is now trying to sell.
"The council tells us the meters are meant to guarantee traffic turnover. That's just an insult to our intelligence ... it's really about making money," he said.
METER REVENUE
Sydney Rose from $16.15m (2003-04) to $16.5m (2004-05).Hourly charges range from $1.10 to $4.40.
North Sydney From $4.39m to $5.35m. Charges: 50c to $5.
Waverley From $4.17m to $4.38m. Charges: $3 to $5.