The Municipal Parking Strategy
Moonee Valley is a city in transition. As Melbourne’s population continues to increase, our municipality and the cities around us will continue to grow. If not managed properly, this could lead to more cars driving in and through Moonee Valley, more congestion and increased parking issues. Watch the video on the growth of Melbourne to understand the impact of accommodating population growth on a city like Moonee Valley.
The Municipal Parking Strategy (MPS) adopted late last year provides systems to tackle these complex traffic and parking issues in a planned, fair and consistent way.
Appropriate car parking is important in residential, commercial, recreational and industrial areas. However, the need for car parking must be balanced with other users’ needs for kerbside space, such as bike lanes. Besides, having a lot of car parking options can encourage people to use their vehicles more, therefore creating more traffic and parking congestion.
The strategy considers current and future demand, provides clear processes to review parking resources and implement or adapt restrictions as the situation changes. It also sets out steps to encourage residents to be less car reliant and use sustainable forms of transport.
What are the tools of the strategy.
Kerbside Road Space User Hierarchy
There are many users competing for limited kerbside space in our city. Kerbside space is required for example for bus and tram stops, bicycle lanes, delivery access, emergency vehicle access, alfresco dining and car park spaces for residents and visitors.
The Kerbside Road Space User hierarchy (pdf, 20KB) is a system that prioritises the needs of the various users depending on the type of area considered, for example residential area or commercial zone. Once the needs of the highest ranked users are satisfied, the space is allocated to the next highest user, continuing until all available space is used. This system ensures that kerbside space is allocated in an appropriate, fair, consistent and transparent way across the city.
Parking management – the 85 per cent rule
The Parking Demand Management framework (pdf, 114KB) establishes a clear rule to manage parking resources efficiently. Where the demand is high, for example in busy shopping areas, there may be a need for parking restrictions to encourage a regular turnover of cars.
There are four steps to the system. When car parking spaces are occupied more than 85 per cent of the time, Council will consult the community to establish the level of support for changes to the parking restrictions. These restrictions are designed to ensure a sufficient turnover of parking spaces so that people who cannot walk, cycle or take public transport to the area can still access it by car and find a parking space.
Encourage the use of sustainable modes of transport
We are committed to encouraging residents to think about how they travel or move about each day. We want to encourage more people, especially those living in and around busy centres, to choose more sustainable ways to get around. We are working to make our city more pleasant and safer to use for walkers and people who ride a bike as well as advocating to the State Government and major transport providers for improved public transport across our city.
Narrow streets management framework
Parking can be particularly problematic in narrow streets. Some residents park on the nature strips or footpaths because they feel it is safer, even though it is against the Victorian Road Rules. The strategy reaffirms our commitment to changing and preventing this practice. It outlines possible parking arrangements based on the width of the street. Please visit the narrow streets page for further information.
Parking permit policy
The parking strategy includes a new policy on parking permits which reviews the number of permits allocated and their cost. More information is available on the parking permits page and on the parking permit policy factsheet (pdf, 744KB).
Local area traffic management
We are taking a local area approach when it comes to traffic and parking in order to help coordinate and integrate parking initiatives around the city. For more information, visit the traffic and parking studies page.
We value your views and concerns on traffic, parking and transport issues
We take road safety very seriously. If you have a traffic, parking or transport concern you would like to draw our attention to, please contact us via email council@mvcc.vic.gov.au. A sketch plan indicating the location and the nature of the problem would also be useful.
All traffic, parking and transport concerns will be investigated and if required, referred to our Capital Works Program.