{"id":799450,"date":"2026-07-14T09:52:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T09:52:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799450\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T09:52:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T09:52:20","slug":"geelong-scrapped-free-parking-now-local-dragana-says-shes-lost-business-over-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/799450\/","title":{"rendered":"Geelong scrapped free parking. Now local Dragana says she\u2019s lost business over it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exclusive: A popular free parking<\/a> trial in Victoria<\/a> has been scrapped, leaving locals frustrated as they\u2019re forced to fork out cash in a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n

Dragana Nenadi\u0107 owns and operates a 24-hour pilates studio in Central Geelong, about 75 km south-west of Melbourne<\/a>, and she said the return to paid parking<\/a> is costing her clients.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dragana<\/p>\n

Dragana Nenadi\u0107 says she\u2019s lost business since the City of Greater Geelong reverted to paid street parking.\u00a0Dragana Nenadi\u0107<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody came in yesterday for a trial, and she said, \u2018with the parking going back to being paid, I just won\u2019t be able to make it work\u2019,\u201d Nenadi\u0107 told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is such a kick in the gut, that that\u2019s what\u2019s preventing them from coming in.\u201d<\/p>\n

The City of Greater Geelong kicked off a 12-month free parking trial in Central Geelong last year.<\/p>\n

Introduced to encourage visitation and support local businesses in the area, the trial offered two hours of free parking on some of the city\u2019s busiest streets.<\/p>\n

It was a hit among residents, workers and visitors and demand far exceeded expectations.<\/p>\n

Nenadi\u0107, who has lived in Geelong since she was a child, was baffled when it suddenly concluded on July 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just came in one Monday and we had to start paying,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The City of Greater Geelong opted not to extend the trial following a decision made as part of its 2026\u201327 budget.<\/p>\n

Greater Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj said the free parking trial didn\u2019t boost retail or hospitality spending \u201cas we had originally hoped\u201d.<\/p>\n

According to council meeting minutes from May, a third quarter financial review resulted in a full-year forecast underlying operating deficit of $13.8 million for the 2025-26 financial year.<\/p>\n

Have you got a story? Contact\u00a0reporter Maddison Skipper:\u00a0mskipper@nine.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Fees and charges were forecast $5.8 million below budget and there was a significant decline in casual parking revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decline in parking revenue referenced in the May council meeting was largely linked to the trial, with reduced revenue from three-hour, four-hour and all-day parking,\u201d Kontelj told nine.com.au.<\/p>\n

Visitation to Central Geelong didn\u2019t increase as a result of the trial, per the City of Greater Geelong website.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Parking was free for two hours on most streets in Central Geelong for the last 12 months. That ended on July 4.\u00a0Dragana Nenadi\u0107<\/p>\n

Like many locals, Nenadi\u0107 had hoped the \u201cfantastic\u201d initiative would be extended due to its popularity.<\/p>\n

The street her studio is located on offer two-hour parking between 9am and 5.30pm on weekdays, starting from just under $4 per hour.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t sound like much but Nenadi\u0107 said the cost adds up quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor my members, if they\u2019re coming in five times it adds up, especially when you think about the fact they\u2019re already paying for the membership,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Nenadi\u0107 herself now has to pay about $8 to park outside her studio for two hours.<\/p>\n

If she wanted to spend eight hours at her business each weekday, it would cost more than $300 in fees to park on the street.<\/p>\n

Nenadi\u0107 can work from home, but that\u2019s not an option for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Paying nearly $4 an hour for parking doesn\u2019t sound like much, but locals say it adds up.\u00a0Dragana Nenadi\u0107<\/p>\n

Visitors to Centrelink and other support services located in the CBD must now pay to park nearby, as do those visiting loved ones at University Hospital Geelong.<\/p>\n

Nenadi\u0107 said the return to paid parking is just putting more financial pressure on many locals already doing it tough.<\/p>\n

She started a change.org petition<\/a> calling on the City of Greater Geelong to reinstate free 2P parking and has already racked up more than 450 signatures.<\/p>\n

Kontelj confirmed there are currently no plans to reinstate free two-hour parking.<\/p>\n

However, data collected during the trial will be used to develop a new comprehensive parking plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cCouncil is undertaking a broader review of parking across the municipality, informed by the findings from the trial,\u201d Kontelj said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce this work is complete, we\u2019ll have more to say about the future of parking, including how we can make the best use of existing parking spaces for residents, workers, businesses and visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Exclusive: A popular free parking trial in Victoria has been scrapped, leaving locals frustrated as they\u2019re forced to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-799450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}