Parking woes at store

“We’re struggling to get people in,” Mr Mitchell said.

“We’ll see cars parked out the front of the store for three, four hours. There’s one particular car that was parked there for eight hours a day, nearly five days a week.

“It’s very frustrating ... one hour could equal four or five patrons for your business.”

His concern is that customers seeking to visit Haverfield St businesses are unable to park nearby, taking their patronage elsewhere instead.

This has been particularly relevant with a slowing in business since the opening of Echuca West Woolworths in late 2022.

“We had regular customers who would often come in and say that they had to drive past, and they’d just kept going to Dan Murphy’s or Woolworths or Coles because they couldn’t get a park,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Since the Woolies opened up in the west, our business has been in decline ever since.

“So the parking issue, we can’t afford to have people go past and not come back.”

Mr Mitchell reached out to Campaspe Shire Council about his concerns, ideally seeking a change to reduce the limits from two hours to 30 minutes for the first three or four parking bays.

He told council that the time limits were not regularly enforced by parking inspectors. Signage showing the limit is also significantly faded.

“It’s basically just open slather, park there as long as you’d like,” Mr Mitchell said.

“Worst-case scenario would be the council actually just come and check it, and best-case scenario would be change the limit and do the checks as well.”

Campaspe Shire Council infrastructure director Kate Lemon said that time limit revisions were completed during the council’s parking strategy development, but applications were also considered.

The most recent Echuca CBD and Historic Port Precinct Parking Strategy was completed in 2018, and noted council’s road services team had “concerns that people who are not using the Haverfield St shops park in the angle bays in front of the shops”.

Addressing Mr Mitchell’s request, Ms Lemon said she was not confident the revised time limit would be suitable for customers at all Haverfield St businesses.

“Parking in this location is not just for the IGA; this public on-street parking is provided for shoppers who wish to visit any of the businesses and services that operate in the area,” she said.

“A 30-minute restriction could prevent customers of multiple businesses from completing all transactions in that period.”

Ms Lemon also reminded staff from nearby businesses not to take up the timed spaces.

“Shopkeepers and their staff are discouraged from parking in timed parking bays at the front of their premises, thereby ensuring that parking spaces are available for shoppers and service users,” she said.

Mr Mitchell said that following recent conversations with council, there had been a visit from its staff, but he would have liked to see them check back in later in the day.

While he does not want to see people receive fines, he hopes that regular monitoring will encourage people to stick to the time limit.

“They promised that they would come down on Tuesday and again on Thursday, and they actually did, so that was good,” Mr Mitchell said.

“I said, ‘Look, can you actually sit there or come back? Because last time we (saw) you come in at 9am, everyone scramble to move their cars, and then you never come back again,’ so it’s kind of pointless.

“I’ve been told a few people have had fines, which will discourage them (but) that wasn’t my aim.”

Council communities director Jo Bradshaw said that council regularly patrolled the area, and during these checks found parking supply fitted demand.

“It’s worth noting that recent observations show that, out of the 17 available bays, only four or five are typically occupied at any given time,” she said.

“This suggests that current arrangements are meeting general demand.

“We will continue to monitor the area regularly to ensure parking remains fair and accessible for everyone.”

To view Mr Mitchell’s petition, head to change.org/p/revise-parking-time-limits-in-front-of-echuca-iga