Workers, businesses and customers are all fed up with Central's lack of all-day parking and are calling for Wagga City Council to foot the bill and fix the problem.
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Parking has been an ongoing issue and residents are arguing that little is being done to support small businesses.
Mother-of-three Kristy Hugo works at Rabbit Books on Johnston Street and said it is "painful" to find all-day parking.
"I've got three kids and I start at 9 am most mornings and by the time I get there after dropping my children off at school, all of the all-day parks are taken," Ms Hugo said.
"My children can't be late for school and I can't be late for work and we're always so busy but even if I do get the chance to move, there's no spaces available.
"I only work part-time and I'm not earning much, but the $112 parking fine I received means that I've basically worked that Thursday for nothing."
Ms Hugo said she has only been working at the store for six weeks and feels guilty constantly having to leave during work to move her car.
"I'm only new and so I don't feel comfortable enough asking to move my car and I just shouldn't have to be in this situation," she said.
"Even if half of that Woolworths car park was all day, because at the moment it's only about eight car spaces along the side walls that are all-day.
"The only other place to park all day is Tarcutta Street, which is a walk of more than three blocks."
Similarly, casual worker at LPL Lash Studio, also on Johnston Street, Ash Jolliffe said she has been fined twice in the past month.
"It's really frustrating, especially when we come in to work for a three hour shift and we don't have time to move our car," she said.
"Some of our services also go for longer than two hours and the last time I was fined, I had just gone over five minutes with my client and then I rushed out to move my car but I had already been smacked with another ticket.
"I've spent 20 minutes in the car park searching for a spot and my boss is losing money that is being spent on constantly moving cars."
Ms Jolliffe said it's not only unfair for workers and small businesses, but also their clients.
"It's not fair for customers, who are in the middle of their treatment, to go and move their cars," she said.
"You want to be relaxed during a treatment and it also looks really unprofessional."
Penny Clements is a frequent visitor to Wagga and said it is no wonder small businesses are suffering.
"The poor girls at LPL are losing customers because of the lack of support shown by the Wagga council," Ms Clements said.
"I went to the girls to get my eyelashes redone, which takes over two hours, and I had to walk over a block with crutches to find a car park that I didn't have to hobble back to every hour.
"I was that exhausted that I haven't been back."
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Ms Clements said she has put her health at risk to help businesses, who are receiving no help from council.
"I had a hip replacement and had a blood cot, but I went to help the girls with training and risked my health because the council can't lift their game and support small businesses; it's disgusting," she said.
"Give the business reserved parking spots; they do it for medical and council staff and expect us to pay rates, so they should put our rates back into the community.
"These girls are self motivated and the council is stealing their wages because parking is inadequate."
Ms Clements called for council to issue parking vouchers as an apology for the "embarrassment and inconvenience" the fines have caused.
City strategy manager Tristan Kell said council has identified the need for more parking as developments within Central increase.
"However at present, a large portion is at grade car parking provided by council," Mr Kell said.
"Multi-storey car parking and paid parking will need to be considered to make additional parking viable as identified in the 2017 Wagga Integrated Transport Strategy.
"There are approximately 4500 off-street parking and 3200 on-street spaces in the CBD and according to the WITS, the maximum occupancy rate is 55 per cent at peak period."
Mr Kell said council is using the transport strategy and the upcoming CBD Master Plan to:
- Ensure there is a high turnover of vehicles
- Reduce the amount of service vehicles and transit vehicles on Baylis Street
- Ensure there are enough parking spaces for people with mobility issues
- Improve the safety and amenity of the main street for pedestrians for both shopping and outdoor dining
- Increase parking areas a short distance from the main street to encourage shoppers to walk past more stores as opposed to only visiting one.