At the Council meeting held on 22 August 2022, Council approved the contract for the supply and installation and five-year maintenance contract for the replacement of the parking meter system in Horsham's CBD.
The cost of the supply and installation of 60 new parking meters by contractor Peritus is $541,859. This is being funded from the CBD Reserve.
The additional cost of a 5 year contract for background software licences, ongoing integration with Council's corporate software system and maintenance is $193,500 or $38,700 per year (plus annual CPI increases). There is an allowance for this in the annual operations budget.
Completed traffic engineering studies have recommended that paid parking is effective and efficient in managing priority parking spaces within the CBD to enable movement of shoppers, ultimately increasing foot traffic to our local businesses
Sixty modern parking meters are currently being installed to replace 361 old meters, some of which date back to the 1960s. The old meters have reached the end of their serviceable life, with repair parts unavailable.
The upgrade of meters will complement Council's Parking Management Plan (also to be implemented in February/March 2023) which includes:
- Consolidating one-hour (1P) car parks into two-hour parking. This will allow more flexibility while still encouraging movement of shoppers throughout the central activity district
- Consolidating short-term parking (10, 15, 20 minutes) into a single 30-minute short term parking time frame.