By Jade Lawton
MORE than 90 per cent of traders who responded to the Gazette Trader Survey agree that Pakenham has parking issues.
But while most agree that there is a problem, suggestions on how to fix our parking woes were varied.
Some traders suggested multi-level car parks; some suggested paid meters in Main Street, while some said paid parking would destroy Pakenham’s retail industry.
Other traders called for business owners and their staff to park elsewhere, estimating about half of the parking spaces near Main Street were clogged with the cars of workers, rather than shoppers.
One suggested employees should be given identification stickers for their cars and reserved parking spaces. Another suggested a ban on traders parking in busy areas between 8am and 4.30pm, with the ban lifted after that time for safety reasons.
Manager of POL Hair, Nicole Cross, said her clients struggled to find nearby parking spaces.
“We had a client last week who received a parking fine out the back of our shop, because she was getting a colour and couldn’t move her car -and there were no other parks available. This is a constant issue,” she said.
Owner of Pakenham Optical, Warren Cawcutt, said land behind the library should be used for parking rather than more shops.
“Do not bring in paid parking — too many Pakenham people go to Fountain Gate as it is. They get free parking there, so why would people shop local, find it hard to get a park, and then pay for it?” he asked.
Andrew King, a partner at the Daily Grind on Main, said Main Street’s two hour parking limit needed to be better policed, while the owner of Sports Power Pakenham, Richard Fromhold, said turning Main Street in to a mall would place further strain on parking.
“The land on the corner of John and Henry streets, extending through and including the park adjoining Pakenham Library must be utilised. Railway station parking is also at a premium as many commuters use parking behind Retravision, limiting customer parking,” he said.
Four traders, or eight per cent of respondents, said Pakenham did not have any parking problems, but did not elaborate on their opinion.
