 Manly's digital parking system was brought in to end the "black market" in residents' free parking permits. But, according to many Manly locals it's awkward, unfair and unnecessary, although the right to four hours free on the oceanfront as from 3rd April, is definitely seen as a bonus.
A new Facebook page "Manly Council Parking - Wrecking our Beach Lifestyle" already has 543 likes, and its authors are busy establishing a committee to persuade the council to ditch the digital system. The new system, which began in February, requires residents to apply for a permit online by registering their car's licence plates with the council. Then, whenever they use a metered parking area, such as the bays at Manly ocean beach, they must type their car's licence number and intended length of stay into a meter. They then then print out a parking ticket and display it inside the windscreen. It's a huge departure from the simplicity of the previous system, when residents got one sticker a year and all they had to do was fix it on the car windscreen. Complaints on the Facebook page include the sheer inconvenience of the new system, with mothers complaining they now have to join a queue at the parking meter every time they park for 10 minutes to pick up a child from school. Elderly drivers and people with poor near vision say they have trouble using the small keyboard on the parking meters. Many people are also annoyed that they have to carefully specify how long they will need each time, when the nature of a trip to the beach is that it may expand due to good surfing/swimming conditions or meeting up with friends. A "Wrecking our Beach Lifestyle" post ridicules the "digital" tag, as in fact, the new system means residents now need to print out a ticket every time they park. "It's really going more manual," the post says. "Now instead of getting a sticker once a year, a resident could potentially have to get a ticket once a day! Privilege and convenience gone in one fell swoop. And why? I don't see any of the net benefits. A case of fixing something that wasn't broken in the first place." What has your experience with the new system been?
4 Comments
Bruce Kitson
6/4/2014 03:33:53 am
It is too complicated and nobody knows the ins and outs of how it works. With number plate recognition, can I park at say a parking meter for 1 hour and later in the same day at a parking station for 2 hours in the same car without paying; as a holder of a resident parking card in theory I am entitled to up to 3 hours parking per day.
Don Walker
11/4/2014 01:24:35 am
I for 1, who appear to be in the minority, strongly support the digital parking permit system but object to their being a limit on the length of parking time available for residents. I would suggest that the majority of people complaining about this system are not local residents who are driving their vehicles into Manly before travelling to other places by bus and/or ferry and taking up valuable street parking spaces instead of travelling to manly by public transport. We know that the majority of vehicle owners who park in Victoria Parade with the label type permits are not locals but commuters.
L Foster
11/4/2014 02:46:21 am
I also strongly support the digital system.
Ali B
11/4/2014 06:11:50 am
Totally agree with all the disadvantages mentioned in this post. Indeed, a resident may have to get a ticket 3 or more times a day! The overall daily time limit is a significant problem, albeit mitigated by the increase to 4 hours. With the 2 hours, my husband would use them for his morning surf meaning I could not then go for a lunchtime walk and/or take the kids down after school. There are strong incentives to enter the minimum time you predict you will need which results in a massive rush when an appointment runs late or other unforeseen circumstances occur. I don't even understand how this system prevents the black market - does it stop residents registering non-resident numberplates? How does it work in the 2P streets of Manly where I believe our sticker used to double the time? We have been provided with next to no information or warning about this unwieldy new system - never a good start... Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCandy Bingham, Manly Ward Councillor on Northern Beaches Council posts what's making news and issues relevant to Manly on this blog. Categories
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