A Wagga business owner has expressed her frustration at the lack of safe, accessible parking in the CBD.
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Wagga lash stylist Sommer Deaves said around her shop on Johnston Street is mainly one or two-hour parking which makes it hard for customers and employees.
"Two of my employees who work hard received parking fines on Saturday, which was $112 - their entire wage for one day of three-to-four hours work," she said.
Ms Deaves raised the issue of parking two years ago and is frustrated by the lack of action.
"The council expects us to walk to Wagga Beach," she said. "The girls don't feel safe walking that distance."
Ms Deaves said she understands they might need to walk to parking, but wants there to be proper lighting around so her staff feel comfortable. Ms Deaves said solutions could include marking better lines to fit more cars in.
"They also go for parallel parking instead of diagonal parking where they could fit more in," she said. "I am happy to buy permit bays as another option."
Ms Deaves said they need to start doing something now to solve these issues.
Daniel Donebus, a director of the Wagga Business Chamber, said parking has been an ongoing issue.
"We have been encouraging council to talk to their ratepayers and announce their policy," he said.
"There needs to be a CBD-wide plan, not only formulated but needs to be communicated so business owners can give feedback. It's important that the council engages with the business community and communicates so there is an opportunity for solutions to be found."
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City strategy manager Tristan Kell said there is approximately 4500 off-street parking and 3200 on-street spaces in the CBD.
"In the Integrated Transport Strategy 2017, the maximum occupancy those spots ever get is 55 per cent," he said. "We know there is enough parking in the CBD, it's not just appropriate for staff to park there all day."
Mr Kell said businesses with large amounts of staff will be encouraged to park in areas within the frame of the CBD.
"Therefore workers may have to walk several blocks to their CBD office, which is consistent with a thriving and growing city," he said.
"This will encourage workers to spend money in other locations on the way to their private vehicle."
Mr Kell said council, in the past two years, increased CCTV cameras for safety reasons and parking spots for people with disabilities.
"Multi-storey car parking and paid parking will need to be considered to make additional parking viable," he said. "Council, by itself, couldn't afford to build one. We would need to enter into a public-private partnership."
Councillor Tim Koschel said the situation for LPL studio is one faced by many businesses and he commended her on making her thoughts public.
"It's something we need to look at, the workers need to park somewhere," he said.
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