Plans to charge for parking at popular Victorian tourist spots

Visitors could be made to pay to park their cars at a number of tourist hotspots across Victoria next year, with multiple councils running trials.

The Yarra Ranges Council, which covers everything from the Puffing Billy Railway in Belgrave to Sky High at Mount Dandenong and the Healesville Sanctuary wildlife park, is to start a paid parking trial later this year.

Currently, parking at all tourist destinations within Yarra Ranges is free of charge.

The trial, due to begin in late 2024, would begin in the town of Warburton, popular with day trippers heading up to the snow, before potentially being rolled out at other sites in the Council’s jurisdiction.

Those in favour of pay parking say it’s only fair tourists help pay for local services, while critics claim it is just another thing to bear in the cost-of-living crisis and risks turning visitors away.

Residents claim tourists have been parking in no stopping zones or overstaying the timed restrictions, while lamenting a lack of available parking spaces for other motorists and general traffic disruption. 

Yarra Ranges Mayor, Cr Sophie Todorov, said Council has already increased enforcement to encourage safer parking behaviour and improve traffic flow.

“We’ve received many complaints from our community who say that parking in Warburton has become a nightmare during peak times," Cr Todorov said.

“While tourism is critical to our local economy, we also know the pressure that this can put on our local residents going about their daily lives.

“And with the Destination Management Plan forecasting a doubling of visitors to the Yarra Ranges over the next decade (4.5 million per year to 9 million), something has to be done. We know that townships such as Warburton are going to be one of the main hot spots for visitation.”

The Warburton plan follows a similar trial at locations along the Mornington Peninsula, such as Flinders, Schnapper Point in Mornington and Sunnyside at Mount Eliza, which was scrapped following a public backlash.

Paul Pingiaro, who runs a boat-hire business in Mornington, told The Age the trial was a “disaster". He estimated his business lost more than 32 per cent in takings during the trial period.

Councillors have, however, chosen to go ahead with an overarching policy to introduce pay parking on the Peninsula, despite discontinuing the $1.2 million pilot, with a decision regarding a permanent arrangement expected after the local elections in October.

It remains unclear how much parking will cost for the Warburton trial, however, though the controversial pilot on the Mornington Peninsula involved visitors being charged $6.20 per hour or $19.50 per day, according to Lilydale’s Star Mail newspaper.

In both cases, residents were/will be exempt.

In addition to pay parking, the Yarra Ranges Council is proposing there would also be other types of restrictions, such as time-limited stays and allocations for ‘specific users’, with unlimited parking spots also an option.

“The aim of the policy is to be consistent, to be equitable, logical for visitors, businesses and residents, to give people a fair go, to maximise utilisation of those spaces and provide efficient access to utilities and businesses,” Streeton Ward Councillor Andrew Fullagar said.