Fremantle parking law change to enable fee targeting students and commuters

Mayor Brad Pettitt said the current law only mentioned ticket machines as a way to pay for parking.

“We previously indicated we were going to do paid parking on Marine Terrace, the parking law needed to be adjusted to enable that,” he said.

The introduction of the fee was brought about to combat the lack of parking available for residents and beach-users because of commuters and university students taking up free spaces and taking a CAT bus to get to the CBD or train station.

A petition was spread around by Notre Dame’s student association three years ago against the $3.50 fee which it claimed would impact the welfare of students and lead to more people parking on residential streets.

Parking fines to increase for first time in eight years

Fremantle’s parking law has been completely rewritten to enable the new Marine Terrace fee and includes the first increase in eight years to parking fines in the port city.

People who park without buying a ticket or exceed time limits would be pinged for $60 instead of the current $50 under the proposed changes.

Ratepayers will also get more control over their verges if the new law passes.

The law proposes to prevent people from leaving vehicles or trailers on verges unless they have permission from the adjacent landowner.

Dr Pettitt said the change was being brought in to stop people boating out to Rottnest Island and just leaving their trailers in front of the homes of ratepayers.

“We have had issues with people going to Rotto and leaving their trailer in North Fremantle for weeks on end in front of their (resident’s) verges, it was getting a bit ridiculous,” he said.

The law will be advertised for public comments for six week, before coming back to the council for ratification, if it is endorsed by councillors on Wednesday.

Cappuccino strip car park compensation

The city is still pursuing compensation for the impending transfer of cappuccino strip car park at the former Stan Reilly site back to the state government for a new police station.

Lands Minister Ben Wyatt has written to the local government stating the council should waive any claim for compensation.

Dr Pettitt said while compensation for the loss of future parking revenue was unlikely, there was still a case to be made for the $1 million in capital works the local government spent to create the car park in the first place.

The local government does stand to gain more options around the Fremantle oval as part of the transfer deal for future redevelopment use.