In 2023, the City of Melbourne introduced a Kerbside Parking Strategy that committed to regular reviews of the kerbside parking system based on proactive engagement in local areas and sharing the data that underpins decision-making.

Data was provided, and opinions were sought on the following topics:

• The allocation of space at the kerb between parking and other kerbside uses.
• Short-stay parking. Defined as bays with a stay limit ≤ 3P that support several Arrivals across the day.
• Long-stay parking. Defined as bays with a stay limit ≥4P that support one or two Arrivals per day.
• Off-street parking. Commercial parking facilities open to the public.
• Home-base vehicles including shared kerbside vehicles for zero-car households (car share), private home-base vehicles stored off-street and private home-base vehicles stored at the kerb under the permit system.
• Enforcement of the rules of the parking system.

In Carlton, the cycle of regular reviews began with a round of engagement between November 2023 and February 2024. The engagement process included three workshops (attended by 25 to 30 residents), online surveys and interviews with over 50 business owners, managers and employees.

We will be back in Carlton from November 2024 to February 2025 to see how initial changes have worked and hear from community again.

We heard from residents and businesses across Carlton.

Key findings:

• There is a high reliance on off-street parking and alternative transport modes in Carlton.
• On-street parking did not appear to be a high-priority concern for residents and businesses surveyed, although most perceived that it’s always full.
• Community said that where we have on-street parking, it should be prioritised for people living in or visiting the area rather than CBD commuters.
• Pick up/drop off for Uber, food delivery and removalists at high-density buildings is an emerging concern.
• People surveyed tended to consider that some parking could be repurposed for other uses that would benefit the neighbourhood (trees, open space, wider footpaths).

Findings:

• Businesses want short-term parking with turnover for customers and long-term parking for staff. They want parking to be free-of-charge.
• Residents with permits want more availability of parking near their property. They are comfortable with charging visitors a fee to manage demand but hesitant about introducing meters in residential streets due to the visual impact.
• Both residents and businesses want more enforcement.
• Vehicles are turning over on average 1.8 times per space per day. (CBD approx. 20 times/day, North Melb approx. 5 times/day.)
• Parking occupancy is very high when controls finish (e.g. occupancy reaches 96% by 6pm on Saturday in permit area 9C and 9B.)
• There are 5,000 off-street parking spaces in Carlton (4,000 on-street). In some cases off-street fees are cheaper than on-street.
• Approximately 2,000 residential parking permits have been issued in Carlton (representing half of all on-street parking spaces).
• Workers are high users of the parking spaces and ‘shuffle’ through the day.
• High number of infringements for vehicles blocking laneway access.

Recommendations have been made to council that include:

• Consistent controls across the neighbourhood.
• Extended hours for on street parking restrictions.

We are designing changes for Carlton parking which will be implemented in May to August 2024.

For more information on changes in your street go to melbourne.vic.gov.au/parkingworks

We won’t set and forget the new conditions once works are complete; we'll give the community time to adjust and then review the functionality and performance of those changes. We will undertake a comprehensive review of how these changes are functioning early 2024.

You can have your say any time on parking in your neighbourhood by completing the survey. The next review of your neighbourhood will use this data to inform future changes.

We will be back in Carlton from November 2024 to February 2024 to see how initial changes have worked and hear from community again.