Saturday on-street parking fees will be reintroduced in Zone A only, in Darwin’s CBD effective from 1 August.
Chief Executive Officer Simone Saunders said this would be the first time since 2012 that Saturday parking fees would be charged in the Darwin CBD.
“City of Darwin continues to focus on activating the CBD and supporting local businesses, and making sure there is fair and adequate parking for everyone is key to this,” Ms Saunders said.
“The issue we now have is that many workers and visitors will park all day in the same spot on Saturdays, which means there is less turnover of parking spaces, making it harder for people to access local retail and hospitality businesses in the central CBD precinct,” she said.
The fees will be $2 an hour between 8am and 2pm on Saturdays, with time capped at two hours. Off-street parking and Zones B and C, in the Darwin CBD on Saturdays will remain free of charge.
A third-party audit revealed parking peaked at 97 per cent full capacity at lunchtime on Saturdays and the move is designed to increase the movement of cars and availability of parking.
Ms Saunders said other key changes coming into effect from 1 July was a reduction in the off-street parking fees. At West Lane Carpark, early bird day rates have dropped to $10 a day (was $11.50) and the hourly rate is now $2 (was $2.30). At DragonFly Carpark early bird day rates have dropped to $7 a day (was $8.20) and the hourly rate is now $1.50 (was $1.80).
