Centre-parking on Kincaid Street had been trialled for six months, but because the road wasn’t quite wide enough to meed regulations, a $60,000 removal plan was put before council.

Councillor Rod Kendall called for a report into the parking strip before any money was spent on removing it and other councillors unanimously agreed.

“This parking has been well-received and has been very successful,” Cr Kendall said.

“We need to assess the effect of how (the trial) worked, what feedback there is… It’s important we get a detailed review before we spend $60,000 reversing something that has had almost unanimous support.”

Cr Dan Hayes, a member of the traffic committee that recommended the removal, said there had been a lot of discussion about parking in Wagga and he was supportive of the trial, but it had its drawbacks.

“At the last traffic committee meeting the Roads and Maritime Service pointed out the road isn’t wide enough and doesn’t meet the regulations,” Cr Hayes said.

“The committee voted to stop the trial because the question was whether council was willing to carry the risk of being outside the regulations. What happens if something goes wrong?”

However, Fitzmaurice Street hotelier Jack Egan said the parking trial didn’t go far enough.

“It would have been of great benefit to businesses if it was not made all-day parking,” Mr Egan said.

“The people who work this end of town park there and all the parks are gone by 8.30am – two hours maximum would have helped.”

The issue of parking at the northern end of the CBD has been a bugbear for many businesses in recent years, with many calling for a multi-story car park or angled parking in the busy strip.

Mr Egan said angled parking could be easily implemented by removing the existing bike lane and nature strips. 

“I live nearby and I’ve not see a bike use the bike lane on Fitzmaurice Street in five years, they don’t use it, they ride the next street over,” Mr Egan said.

“If they changed to angle parking you’d more than double the parking and it’s needed because they refuse to do a multi-story carpark.”