With more people living and visiting North Melbourne than ever before and changes to the way people use on-street parking, we’re adjusting parking to help keep your community moving.
Council endorsed the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan, which commits to regular reviews of the municipality’s kerbside parking through proactive community engagement and data-driven decision making. As part of this, we are working one neighbourhood at a time, engaging the community, and reviewing parking conditions to make sure this limited resource is working efficiently.
We spoke to the community in August 2025, worked with parking management experts, investigated the data and studied how people are using on-street parking spaces in North Melbourne. This has helped us to develop proposed parking changes that will deliver simpler and more available parking. To learn more about what the North Melbourne community told us, visit our consultation summary page.
We know that businesses, residents and visitors use these spaces in a variety of ways, so we want to know your thoughts on the proposed changes to make sure we have the balance right.
The map below shows the five areas for parking improvements across North Melbourne. Before we make any changes, we want your feedback on the proposed changes that will be implemented across all five areas.
You can explore the proposed changes by selecting the interactive spots on the image, or read the text only description of the proposed changes below.
What we heard
We received a mix of feedback that there was not enough or too much residential exempt parking.
Proposed change
What we heard
We received a mix of feedback about residential exempt parking and that the parking permit system needs to be updated.
Proposed change
A review of the current parking permit policy and development of a Strategic Parking Permit Policy will take place under the Parking and Kerbside Management Plan.
What we heard
Parking times are inconsistent and don’t allow for the right mix of long- and short-term stays for workers, residents and visitors.
Proposed change
What we heard
Parking controls don’t account for weekend and evening pressure, especially close to hospitals, shopping precincts and train stations.
Proposed change
Parking controls that end later than 7pm (e.g. 11pm) will be retained.
What we heard
Loading Zones are essential for both businesses and residents. Locations of Loading Zones often don't meet demand. Signage is confusing and needs clarity. Key loading activities happen Monday to Friday during the day.
Proposed change
Data and community feedback tell us there is growing demand for parking across North Melbourne. This is due to North Melbourne’s proximity to the city centre, Queen Victoria Market, hospitals, key train stations and an increase in building developments.
We have considered all options to help manage this growing demand. In addition to timed parking controls (e.g. 2P and 4P), fees are one way to manage demand. Paid parking already exists in key locations across North Melbourne as, when set at the right price, fees can improve availability by increasing turnover.
We are proposing the addition of more paid parking spaces in key activity areas, as per the map below. The aim is to increase turnover near businesses and areas of high parking demand, to improve availability.
What we heard
There is increased traffic and demand for parking in areas where some meters exist including Flemington Road, Errol Street, Queensberry Street and around key business locations. This pressure impacts business trading, access to hospitals and key community facilities.
Proposed change
To reflect increased demand on parking in key locations:
You can also download a PDF of the map: North Melbourne proposed paid parking map (PDF 1221 KB)
Arden Station
Arden Station is now open, with trains every 4.5 minutes. This new key transport connection will affect traffic and carparking patterns in surrounding streets. While there is no proposal to introduce paid parking near the station at this stage, we will monitor this area to understand what changes to parking conditions may be needed in response to community needs.
Flemington Road
To allow for longer stays for visitors and businesses, while maintaining turnover, parking will be updated to a mix of 2P, 4P and P in paid zones.
Errol St
All paid parking will be from 7am to 7pm Monday to Sunday. Any later control times that currently exist (eg. 11pm) will be maintained with free parking between 7pm and the later control.
Paid parking area
Around 680 bays in this high-demand area (highlighted) will be updated to paid parking. This is approximately 12% of overall on-street parking in North Melbourne.
Loading zones
Around 60 loading zones in this area will end at 4pm on weekdays, to be used as additional paid parking bays after hours and on weekends.
In addition to the above proposed changes, some changes to parking in North Melbourne will be progressively rolled out across the entire municipality:
The introduction of ‘15 minutes free parking’ when you log your parking session with the EasyPark app for any paid parking bay.
Following the successful introduction of '15 minutes free parking' in neighbourhoods that have already completed a parking review, this has been rolled out across the entire municipality.
This supports a range of parking needs including pick-up and delivery, quickly stopping at a shop or business, running errands or picking up a friend.
Short stay signs such as P10 (10-minute parking) or 1/4P (15-minute parking) will be changed to a “No Parking” sign you see here.
A "No Parking" sign means you are not allowed to park your vehicle in that area, but you can stop for a maximum of two minutes to quickly drop-off or pick-up passengers or goods – as long as you stay within three meters of your vehicle and do not leave it unattended. This makes spaces more available for quick stops and ensures turnover remains high.
Parking bay line marking will be undertaken across key street segments to support effective kerbside management, driver behaviour, address access concerns and improve availability.
Paid parking bays must be line marked. For unpaid parking, existing line marking will be refreshed. We will also line mark bays on streets with more than approximately 500 vehicles per day to support safety and access in busy areas.
Accessible bays will be installed at key locations including near health services, public facilities and transport.
Accessible bays will be installed in line with DDA compliance where possible and line marked blue for increased visibility. This means accessible bays will be longer and wider than standard bays.
Disability parking permit holders can also park for double the time limit shown on any general ‘green sign’ parking space (up to four hours in a ‘2P Meter’ space).
We know there are a range of infrastructure, housing, greening and transport projects being undertaken by the City of Melbourne and State Government across North Melbourne.
These include the West Gate Tunnel Project, tram route upgrades, Public and Affordable Housing changes, greening and health precinct works.
We work with council teams and the State Government to manage parking and are monitoring these changes to align parking works with the delivery of key changes across North Melbourne.
Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners
The City of Melbourne respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land we govern, the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the Kulin and pays respect to their Elders past and present. We acknowledge and honour the unbroken spiritual, cultural and political connection they have maintained to this unique place for more than 2000 generations.
We accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart and are committed to walking together to build a better future.
