Yarra Ranges Council has continued its stricter enforcement of parking restrictions in Warburton to encourage cars to move on and assist with traffic flow.
The increased enforcement came after feedback from the community that they were becoming frustrated with the amount of motorists overstaying the car park time limits.
Since increasing enforcement in Warburton over a one-month period during weekends and public holidays, there has been a significant increase in infringements, as Council tries to encourage more free flowing traffic while minimising illegal parking.
Most of the infringements were due to either overstaying timed parking limits or parking in no stopping zones, highlighting the need for more enforcement to encourage vehicles to move on and improve the fairness and safety of parking in Warburton. Other infringements included wrongly parking in disabled zones or illegally on nature strips.
Yarra Ranges Mayor Sophie Todorov said that the increased enforcement was just one way that Council were trying to improve parking conditions around Warburton and the Yarra Ranges.
“We know that Warburton is an increasingly popular spot for visitors to come to, particularly over weekends and public holidays, so we need to look at ways to encourage better traffic flow and make things fair for everyone,” Cr Todorov said.
“It also becomes a safety issue when there are vehicles that might be illegally parked in no stopping zones or taking up parks that are designed for people with special needs,”
“While we’ve received positive feedback from the community since more strictly enforcing the parking restrictions during busier times, we know it won’t solve all issues which is why we’ve incorporated other initiatives to try and relieve some of the parking issues within the town.”
Yarra Ranges Council recently proposed some changes to the current parking restriction time limits within the town, and following community feedback, made some alterations to those proposals.
Signage for the parking restriction changes is expected to be installed over the coming month. Council will alert the community of this once confirmed.
The changes are a part of Council’s larger effort to review parking across the Yarra Ranges to create a more fair and equitable solution for residents and visitors, and to help deliver on the commitments made in Council’s Integrated Transport Strategy.
