There’s no such thing as a free park.
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Orange City Council will be cracking down on people exceeding parking limits at the Summer Centre from Monday, October 17.
The shopping centre’s managers, RSCS Australia, asked council to step in.
Council’s traffic committee chairman Russell Turner said he’d be happy not to see any revenue raised from the Summer Centre.
“We and management have been aware of a number of motorists using [Summer Centre] as an all day park or an extended park,” Councillor Turner said.
“The centre is busy now and residents are struggling to find a park.
“We have time-limited parking zones so that the available parking spaces can be shared fairly between all shoppers,” he said.
It’s the first time the centre’s parking time limits will be enforced.
“What we found in the four weeks to Christmas last year was businesses including retailers were using it as an all-day park,” Summer Centre manager Bill Kanellopoulos said.
He said the centre’s tenants suffered for it and asked management to ease the congestion.
“We considered tow trucks, wheel clamping and we tried issuing warning notices, but it fell on deaf ears,” Mr Kanellopoulos said.
Among the 268 car parks available, several have been designated for people with a disability or mums with prams.
“It’s a courtesy gesture, if we find we need to extend the offer and highlight it, we will do that,” Mr Kanellopoulos said.
The move to ask council to monitor motorists comes as a Vietnamese restaurant is due to open in the Summer Centre, leaving just one vacant shop.
“We’re looking for the right fit for the centre,” Mr Kanellopoulos said.
There will be a week’s grace period from Monday, with warnings issued instead of fines.