In what shop owners describe as the 'perfect storm' of parking issues this month, the only public multi-storey car park in the city (in Neil Street) has been operating at reduced capacity due to damage, two large car parks (at the old library and Gardentown shopping centre) have been demolished, and Council has reduced the limit of street parking from two hours to one. (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
"It affects us because most of our clients are here for a lot longer than an hour," said hair salon owner Hellen Morrisby. "I'm sure if some of the councillors were having a perm or a colour they would realise there's no time at all. I can understand that council is trying to move on traffic, which is great, but there has to be some way they can look around places like us or restaurants to allow longer parking. There is no longer-term parking left in the city now." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
Lex Bailey's family has traded in the main street since the days people parked horses and buggies outside. "We've actually noticed a lot less traffic driving round and round looking for car parks now the one hour limit has been applied," he said. "I think in the long-term it will certainly be a plus, but there definitely has to be more offstreet parking, whether that be multistorey or otherwise. And there certainly needs to be long-term parking for the workers." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
"In some ways it is better," said Dawn Heidrich from Aussie Disposals. "One hour doesn't give some people enough time, but it does give others a chance to zip in and quickly do what they need to. People have to realise it's not the country town it was. I think you'll find if you went to Brisbane or Sydney or Melbourne you would struggle to find a park right outside the shop you wanted to go to. But a high-rise car park in the CBD would alleviate a lot of the issues, especially with staff parking." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
"There's much less foot traffic in the city, and I rely on foot traffic," said coffee shop owner Heather Richardson. "It's definitely affected my business. Most of my customers say there's not enough time to do anything with one hour parking. I think the only thing to do is to improve the public transport system." (ABC Southern Qld: Peter Gunders)
"I remember in 1970 a study the council did highlighted a deficiency in both short and long-term parking in the north-west quadrant of the CBD," said Lex Bailey.
"That was 44 years ago! That shortage still exists. At least the council is now doing something."
Hairdresser Hellen Morrisby believes council should go further.
"Open up some of the council land in the city for the next 15 months while Gardentown is being developed and try and support the city," she said.
"There's some things you can't do in one hour, and getting a haircut is one of them."
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