Push for more free parking in Geraldton

A local businessman has called for the City of Greater Geraldton’s “ancient, outdated parking rules” to be changed.

Dome Geraldton owner Graham Sertorio, who was recently fined for parking in the loading zone outside the cafe, said the local economy would benefit from additional free parking in the CBD.

The City has two unrestricted free parking locations — one on Francis Street and one at the eastern end of Marine Terrace — and six paid parking stations.

Throughout the city centre there is also free, on-street parking available, with time limits varying from 10 minutes to two hours.

Mr Sertorio said Geraldton should follow in the footsteps of regional cities like Bunbury and allow people to park for free in the paid carparks for a couple of hours. “The City of Bunbury have brought their CBD back to life,” he said.

“You can park there for free for one to three hours with a ticket and if you want to park longer, you pay.

“Why not do that through the whole Geraldton CBD area and open the town up?

“These are ancient parking rules that are impacting tourists and locals. People complain about the lack of parking and they worry about getting a ticket.

“We’ve just got to get up with the times.”

Mr Sertorio said the ticketed carpark opposite Dome on Foreshore Drive was consistently quiet during the week.

On April 13, when The Geraldton Guardian met with Mr Sertorio at the carpark, 12 of the 60 parking bays were in use at 11am. City chief executive Ross McKim said the City was conducting a review of paid parking.

“We are investigating extending the free parking initiative, but with the area changed to two hours free instead of all day free,” he said.

“This will hopefully provide the ‘churn’ businesses are looking for.

“Traders and other users of the city centre are regularly making suggestions on how to improve parking in the area and all of these ideas will be considered in the review.”