A Moorabool council plan to sell off land used as a carpark has left business owners scratching their heads, predicting the decision will deliver a huge blow to local trade.
A council spokeswoman said the block of land at 3 Graham Street, behind Flanagan’s Border Inn, had been up for sale for a number of years. A contract for its sale had been signed last year. The spokeswoman said the block was surplus to council requirements.
But one business owner, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Star Weekly the sale of the land would hurt local businesses.
“It may not have been an official carpark, but over time, it has been … and we’re talking over many, many years,” he said.
“It essentially allowed our customers to come into the area, generating business for us.”
Almost all car parking spaces along Main Street and in the town centre are limited to one hour. The land is big enough for more than 100 car park spaces, the business owner said.
“One-hour carparks don’t allow enough time for people to attend restaurants or other businesses, such as the tax services,” the business owner said.
He said car parking was a major problem in the town centre, and expects this to get worse as the population grows.
“We’re trying to promote the area,” he said.
“As you would appreciate, Bacchus Marsh is getting larger and larger.
“Selling off land like this is short term gain for long term pain,” he said.
“Once we lose the block, we’ll be lobbying the councillors. Some of us are scratching our heads … we don’t understand the decision.”
When asked if the council had plans to increase parking time limits along nearby Main Street to compensate for the loss of carparking, the council spokeswoman said the vacant lot had never been an official carpark and there were no plans to review Main Street limits.
She said the sale could take some months to finalise.
