A 2018 Labor Party election promise to deliver 1000 new free car parks will not happen before voters go to the ballot box next year, The Courier has learned.
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As much of the city's workforce - and traffic - returns following almost a year of restrictions, local MP Juliana Addison has said the government remained committed to providing the car parks.
However, the representative for the Wendouree electorate - which covers central Ballarat - confirmed work would not be complete until late 2023.
In the state budget of 2019/20, $30 million was set aside for the Regional Car Parks Fund to fulfil the election promises.
A sum of $14 million was announced ahead of the election for the Ballarat car parks. There was also an election commitment to fund 900 free car parks in the Latrobe Valley region. Eight preferred sites have since been identified in Latrobe Valley but no potential site has yet been made public in Ballarat.
Ms Addison said: "We are working in partnership with the City of Ballarat to identify key precincts of parking demand and our plans are on track to deliver more car parks to the community as part of our ongoing investment in the region."
Community engagement on suggested sites for the free car parks would commence shortly, she said.
The election commitment was for new free car parks to be in the CBD, with access to shops, restaurants and cafes highlighted in the government publicity at the time. That area has now broadened to include the hospitals.
Ms Addison said "key stakeholders" had identified potential sites in the CBD, Eastern Oval Precinct and the Health Precinct.
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A schedule published by Regional Development Victoria, the state government body overseeing economic development outside of metropolitan Melbourne, indicated construction would begin late last year. A timeline on its website, which is still live, suggested the staged completion of the sites was due by mid to late 2022.
No physical works have yet happened.
The commitment by the Daniel Andrews government was made during an election campaign that saw parking as a key election battleground in the city. Following the Labor Party promise, then opposition leader Matthew Guy committed to 1500 free car parks.
The state government has also provided $2 million for 1,000 additional car parks for Ballarat ahead of the opening of the GovHub site on Mair Street, and to replace lost spaces at the Civic Hall site.
GovHub is due to open next month, with hopes it will bring up to 600 new government employees to work in Ballarat.
The $2 million has funded a new car park at Eastern Oval as well as a 290-space venue on Creswick Road, which has been little used since it opened in October 2019.
The wait for the GovHub work to finish as well as the pandemic restrictions has shifted parking habits in the city - ironically a short time after the City of Ballarat's new Smarter Parking strategy had been introduced.
The Creswick Road Car Park cost $849,238 of state government money to build, as well as land rental costs of $650,000, which have been covered by the City of Ballarat. An initial three year-lease has been extended until January 2022.
Last August councillors voted to use the remaining funds to "formalise" existing unmarked car parks - mostly in Soldiers Hill.
The office of the Premier Daniel Andrews was approached for comment for this article but did not respond.
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