State government 100 per cent committed to 1000 new free CBD car parks, minister says

The state's tourism minister Steve Dimopoulos was in Ballarat on April 11, talking about upgrades to Eureka Stadium and highlighting future events coming to Ballarat.

When asked if the government would be walking away from the 2018 promise he said "no, of course not".

Mr Dimopoulos pointed to the almost 150 car parks the government had delivered so far.

"We're not the only providers of car parks in the City of Ballarat," he said.

"The fact that we have a regional car parks program, I think is a good thing."

Ensuring customers in the central business district have a place to park is an important part of business, shop owners have told The Courier.

The new Officeworks building opening on April 17, built on what used to be a council-run car park, has created less options for drivers.

At the same time the council is encouraging people to seek out other forms of transport by approving large scale inner city development with fewer parks.

It has taken the state government six years to find spaces for 147 car parks out of the promised 1000 new spaces - 65 at White Flat Oval, 48 at Havelock Street at Eastern Oval, and 34 spaces at Market Street.

Another 400 more spaces will be put at the Ballarat Base Hospital.

"We're delivering the rest in the next couple of years," Mr Dimopoulos said.