Small businesses in Brunswick Heads have seen income fall by up to 60 per cent since parking meters were introduced in the town, a recent meeting has heard.
The business owners were speaking at a specially-convened meeting with Byron Shire Council about how the meters have affected them since being installed in September last year.
Eighteen local business owners attended the event, including representatives from hospitality, retail, services, and health and beauty, with each given a few minutes to share their experience.
The owners spoke of income decreasing by 10 to 60 per cent.
‘They also expressed their customer’s views and mentioned how a lot of their business comes from areas just outside the Shire in particular Tweed Heads with the same postcode 2483,’ said Peter Wotton, the president of the Brunswick Heads Chamber of Commerce.
‘These customers are upset as they come regularly to Bruns and feel like locals. These customers are also the bread and butter for our small businesses.’
Mr Wotton said the representatives from Council were, ‘for the most part empathetic and willing to listen and take away information from the meeting and local visitor and business survey outcomes’.
Representing Council at the meeting was Mayor Sarah Ndiaye, councillors Janet Swain, Jack Dods, and David Warth, General Manager Mark Arnold, and Director of Infrastructure Services, Phil Holloway.
Byron Council voted to install the meters in December 2023 following more than a decade of debate over the issue.
To support its argument, Council pointed to the evidence of a parking study which suggested that even during the low season, parking in the centre of Bruns was still reaching a ‘trigger point’ for intervention, namely 72 per cent occupancy.
The study found that parking was at capacity on the weekend at all times of the year, and it was predicted that parking demand in the centre of town would increase nearly 10 per cent over the following five years.
Council, under former mayor Michael Lyon, sought to sweeten the deal for locals by including a clause which entitled all locals to a free permit that exempts them from having to pay for parking in the town.
However, it has been reported by business owners and others that, with the introduction of the meters, there has been a significant drop in the number of people seeking to park in the town.
Empty parking spots
Many of the parking spots with meters are apparently empty for significant periods of time, leading some to question whether they are in fact providing significant revenue for Council – a key argument made by those who initially advocated for the scheme.
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