By Matthew Sims
Hume council has increased the fee for a third residential parking permit by more than double.
During its meeting on Monday, May 9, the council passed a notice of motion to adopt an updated residential parking permit policy and review the policy after three years of operation.
Meadow Valley councillor Karen Sherry said council would increase the fee for a third residential parking permit from $8.34 to $20 per annum or equivalent to an increase from $25 to $60 across the three-year life of the permit.
However, she said that only 81 properties out of the 1168 properties within residential permit parking areas had requested a third permit to date.
“We’re not talking about a large pool of people or houses,” Cr Sherry said.
“The increased fee is intended to deter residents from parking additional vehicles on the street.
“It’s anticipated that it would encourage the use of available parking on the property as a first preference.”
During its meeting on May 24, 2021, Hume council resolved to undertake community consultation on the draft Residential Parking Permit Policy, which attracted 22 responses, half of which included concerns with the increased cost of the third permit.
Cr Sherry said if a similar amount of individuals requested a third permit, council would receive about $4860 in revenue over three years, while council has allocated $9000 towards the printing of parking permits over three years.
“We’re not trying to do revenue raising here,” she said.
“We believe that the increase in the third permit for 81 households is modest compared to, say, what’s going on at Brimbank, Casey, Yarra and Moreland.”
Meadow Valley councillor Chris Hollow said that he was in support of the motion but also noted that the council needed to aim to make streets wider in any future developments it would consider.
Details: www.hume.vic.gov.au/Residents/Roads-Parking-and-Transport/Parking/Residential-Parking-Permits
