Council to consider a visitor paid parking pilot at foreshore areas
Published on 25 May 2023
With more than 7.5 million visitors a year to the Mornington Peninsula, there is increasing pressure on our foreshore areas.
Currently, ratepayers are paying around $8 million per year for the maintenance of foreshore-related Council infrastructure on the Mornington Peninsula, such as car parks, public toilets and access paths.
To better manage this high demand for limited foreshore parking and to help maintain the necessary infrastructure, Council is considering a Visitor Paid Parking Pilot.
On 30 May Council will vote on whether to go ahead with the pilot scheme that will see visitors to the Mornington Peninsula pay for parking at three popular foreshore locations.
Council has no intention to introduce paid parking for Mornington Peninsula Shire residents.
The three locations under consideration for a Pilot are:
· Schnapper Point foreshore carpark, Mornington
· Sunnyside North beach foreshore carpark, Mount Eliza
· Flinders pier foreshore carpark, Flinders
This is an opportunity for residents and visitors to continue to share our foreshores while more fairly distributing the costs of maintaining these areas.
If endorsed, the Pilot will enable us to test parking rules, trial new technology and assess the impacts to each area. It will allow the collection of real-life data and community feedback to evaluate outcomes.
Revenue generated by any Pilot would be reinvested back into the community and used to fund foreshore related infrastructure and services, such as better foreshore access, trails and footpaths, parking and amenities such as public toilets and rubbish collection.
Further information will be published on the Shire website when a decision is made.
Quotes attributable to Mayor Cr Steve Holland
“While Council is yet to vote on the implementation of a Visitor Paid Parking Pilot, if approved, the Pilot would test a ‘user pays’ system for visitors to contribute to the cost of maintaining foreshore infrastructure.
“Many thousands of visitors come to the Peninsula to enjoy our beaches. They shop, buy food and drinks and provide a huge boost to the local economy. But it also causes significant parking congestion at our foreshores. With the cost of maintaining our foreshore infrastructure at around $8 million per year, this would be a fairer system that would provide more equitable access to our prized beaches through vehicle turnover.
“If successful, we would consider rolling out the system to other Council-managed foreshore car parks.
“A decision to go ahead with the Pilot would also trigger extensive engagement with our community to help shape some of the details of the project and to hear feedback on the impact of the Pilot.”