THE City of Greater Bendigo Council will investigate a new multi-storey car park in Bendigo's central business district as part of a review of the city's parking.
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It will also consider changing parking ticket prices or time limits on streets outside the city centre to better appeal to people.
Senior strategic planner Philip DeAraugo said more parking could be needed with developments such as GovHub and the new law courts.
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The city will look into whether Bendigo needs another multi-deck car park in the Market Street precinct, near the GovHub site.
An average of 75 percent of bays are occupied at Edward Street Multistory Car Park, with an average peak occupancy of 84 percent.
At Hargreaves Street the multi story has an average bay occupancy of 86 percent, with an average peak occupancy of 94 percent.
Mr DeAraugo said the review - a Parking Futures Plan - was an incremental check to fine-tune the city's parking needs.
He said consolidated parking was generally better used, so it made more sense to have a few such facilities scattered throughout Bendigo.
It would be suitable for all-day parking, freeing up on-street parking for customers coming into the city for a couple of hours.
The review of parking will encompass pricing, accessibility for residents and tradespeople in residential areas, and demand across different areas within the city.
The city has developed a range of draft actions to fine-tune parking in Bendigo's centre. The review will include a community forum to give people a chance to have their say.
"The parking system needs to be just incrementally checked every couple of years just to make sure we've got the pricing right, that people are parking in the right areas, and also planning for the future," Mr DeAraugo said.
"With the forum we're promoting this is where we're going to explain the draft actions that have been prepared."
Mr DeAraugo said the city's occupancy surveys showed parking in Bendigo's city centre was usually in high demand.
But he said people could easily find parking a few streets out.
"One of the things we'll be looking at is whether in those outer areas, where there's not as much demand, we change the prices to make it more appealing for people to park in, or the time limits," he said.
The New Parking Futures plan is being developed alongside a review of the city's 2005 CBD plan.
The plan's aim was to achieve a vision of a colourful, vibrant and exciting place that showcased the best of Bendigo's cultural, economic and community life.
Mr DeAraugo said the plan had guided development in the city since then.
"We're starting to see residential development come into the city centre and smaller scale buildings being built," he said.
"We're going to see a couple of big buildings like GovHub and law courts, but generally what we want is the smaller sites to be developed into those mid scale, four or five stories type developments."
Mr DeAraugo said people could have their say on parking at the forum on May 27.
The forum is on from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at the Engine Room, 58 View Street, Bendigo.
People can email rdsenquiries@bendigo.vic.gov.au to register their attendance.
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