Yarra City Council will conduct a 12-month trial of 1-hour free parking across Victoria Street, Bridge Road and Swan Street from 1 July this year. 

Yarra City Council Mayor, Stephen Jolly, said the move was a part of making sure that our local businesses, particularly small businesses, felt that their needs were being considered. 

“This is about providing some long-overdue attention to our shopping strips,” he said. 

"While we are running this trial in Richmond, we see this proposal as a testing ground on how we might reboot the local economy for all of Yarra. It is about getting the settings right, making sure the results are measurable, so that anything we might introduce on a permanent basis has the evidence to support it.” 

He said what is learnt from the trial could be applied to other strips in the City of Yarra. 

“This is a first step in changing the way we look at our shopping strips and working with our businesses to achieve this. We know how difficult it is for businesses now, and we need to help them out.” 

Mayor Jolly said that the 1-hour free parking trial had received support from trading groups and individual businesses, many who felt they were losing trade from local residents taking advantage of free parking in nearby suburbs in Stonnington and Boroondara. 

Information on how the free 1-hour parking will be applied will be provided in the lead-up to the 1 July commencement date.