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A COUNCIL report advises councillors to reject free parking in Bendigo's Central Business District.
The report will come as a blow to 1200 people who signed a petition requesting free parking in the Bendigo CBD for the first hour and reduced rates for permanent parking in the CBD multilevel car park.
It considered a request from a resident to return the car park in McLaren Street to a paid car park to allow for train commuters to park close to the railway station.
It states that parking fees help retail outlets by ensuring there is a regular turnover of vehicles and prevents workers from parking in prime parking spaces for shoppers.
"Pricing is set according to supply and demand principles in order to ensure that vacant spaces are available," it states.
The report also notes "concerning behaviours" involving chain emails being sent to groups of people when parking officers are seen monitoring cars.
It notes a Facebook group "Coles Car Park - Parking Inspector Watch", which advises people to "join if you park your car on top of the Coles and want to avoid getting parking fines from the pesky parking inspectors".
Petition organiser Free Choice Tobacconist Scott Dalgliesh said he was disappointed with the report's findings.
"We had a meeting with the mayor a couple of weeks ago and he had some good thoughts and reasons not to (implement free parking) but at the end of the day, we still pay."
Mr Dalgliesh said the council could ensure a turnover of parking in the CBD by enforcing strict time limits and fining people who didn't comply.
"Mildura has free parking and monitor overstaying," he said.
"Our patrons still pay for parking and there's still that divide between the (Bendigo) Marketplace and the CBD. It keeps people away from the CBD."
He said he wasn't sure if his group would continue to campaign for free parking.