This petition is asking for 1 hour free timed parking along Hunter street Newcastle. This petition is on behalf of the Newcastle small business community in this district.

Hunter street was recently shut down to install trams and this killed off a number of  local small business over this time period (18 we are told by long term Hunter street residents.) Hunter street was reopened with trams and less parking. New businesses are trying to thrive but the parking is so expensive per year for the public and for small business owners ( $7000- $12000 a year to be exact for traders.) The trams are awesome! But their main intention is to the beach, university or train station.

A pandemic hits ( that's not on you guys we know)  and people stop coming to the city at all. A recession starts and now it’s ghostly. But these are not the main factors contributing to our problem.  People do not come to city lightly and opt not to visit this part of Newcastle due to immediate parking fees over 15 minutes. The fines are on an upward trend  and the parking officers have doubled in numbers and frequency. This has not gone unnoticed by business owners who have worked here enough to notice such an obvious change. As per a recent report in the Newcastle Herald, the fine revenue 'was tracking over $400,000 above what it had been budgeted' (Newcastle Herald, Michael Parris, 9/5/20) as of May this year. We have noticed officers fining the only car on the street at 4:40pm on a Friday (actual story.) and Saturday morning at 11:50am (actual story.) 

The people who receive these fines or pay the parking fees in the current situation are largely small business owners trying to revitalise their city and their small communities supporting them in these times.  Parking inspectors see Hunter street as a hot spot. They trail up and down and behind civic lane where all small business owners park along with Hunter street.  There is no grace period for slip ups. Not even three minutes in our case (actual story.) They literally have driven our customers away and now we will have no choice but to move to an area that has more parking privileges. Hunter street residents have not been able to lease many shop fronts since March 2019. It's the parking they tell us.  

Beaumont street thrives as does Darby street and the Hunter Mall. Why? Free hour parking. Even if it’s just for an hour, it makes such a difference to that street’s economy and encourages more interesting and diverse places to open. One hour free parking on Hunter street will encourage more businesses to open in this area, not close. 

Please put policies aside and think of the times we are in. It’s not the time to be fining and charging people to visit the city. Not even in the good times, but we are in the worst. We are asking for timed free 1 hour parking. Please support small businesses on Hunter street Newcastle city council. Please help us encourage people back to the streets and out of shopping centres. Please discourage the heavy penalties and provide us with a parking office that do not employ officers who laugh, discriminate and mock this situation (actual story.)