Greater Shepparton City Council doesn't have to agree with any proposal but it must listen to Chamber's proposition.
Council has whiffed with the parking, so it has a responsibility to ensure the community is satisfied.
Whatever the final decision, it must not negatively impact the local businesses.
Thankfully, Chamber will always have businesses in mind and it seems prepared to meet both ways.
Chamber president John Anderson told The News there are most likely going to be compromises.
‘‘The plan would be to work with council if it is accepted and to have several zones with different free rates,’’ he said last month.
Mr Anderson said there could be reduced free off-street parking to help curb some of the issues.
Chamber is also prepared to put something out quickly before December when the Christmas and Boxing Day trade period is at its peak.
Another advantage of calling for a resolution by December means coming up with something soon instead of spending longer and dragging the issue through the mud.
Chamber would not investigate or attempt to deal with the problem if it didn't believe businesses were being affected.
It's now in the hands of the council and we'll soon learn if it's prepared to budge and accept a few changes to ease the anger of shoppers and businesses.
It's easy to assume there are areas of Shepparton where parking will always be metered.
Parking is normally a contentious issue not just in Shepparton but across the country.
It's one of those things that will divide both community and council.
Wander in to numerous local government areas and it would be easy to learn of previous parking crossroads within the community.
Hopefully, Shepparton council and community can find some common ground.
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