Shire's cashless parking meters replace 'obsolete' models, sparking outrage

Southern Grampians Shire replaced the city's old meters in favour of updated models that can take VISA cards or be paid for through the Easy Park app.

While fees remain the same at $1.20 per hour, residents will no longer be able to pay with notes or coins, resulting in some labelling the move as "discrimination" towards the elderly.

"Disappointed that there's no cash options. Also have you thought about how the elderly are gonna handle this?" one person wrote on social media.

"Won't be long before these flash looking things either become faulty or get vandalised," another said.

The shire first raised the plan in September 2022, where it was proposed it could collect more than $130,000 per annum "if the appropriate technology is applied".

It came after the council made just $49,000 from parking meters in the 2021-22 financial year, continuing a declining trend.

Southern Grampians mayor David Robertson said the new meters were a result of cost-cutting measures.

"Our old parking meters had become obsolete, they'd got to a stage where they weren't worth fixing," he told The Standard.

"With modern technology and so many alternative ways of paying, we decided to go to a new parking meter."

Seventeen new stations will become active on February 1, 2024, covering a total of 204 spaces on Brown, Thompson and Gray streets.

Cr Robertson said there was no lack of free parking in Hamilton.

"There's enormous car parks at Safeway, Coles, Aldi and IGA," he said.

"It's not that there's no free parking, they just might have to walk 50 metres."

The mayor wasn't surprised with the backlash from residents.

"Like everything, there's always pushback and people who don't want change but the world moves on," he said.

"No one wants parking meters but at the end of the day you have to have them."

He said the "very few people" who were unable to pay via VISA or an app could buy a prepaid card from the shire, which functioned similar to a Myki card.