BINNEY Street businesses and patrons agree something must be done about the street’s lack of parking during peak periods, but the solution remains unclear.
As Euroa’s only shopping precinct, many of the town’s retail businesses rely on patrons parking on Binney Street to access their shops.
But Petrostar Euroa co-owner Kirrily McCombe said employees of some Binney Street businesses are parking on the street all day, taking up car-spaces that could be used by customers.
“If you have employees parking in the street, can you please direct them to Kirkland Avenue, McGuinness Street, to the car park behind the pub,” she urged fellow business owners.
“My business relies heavily on people being able to park out in front of my shop, because I have a lot of heavy stock; we have a lot of heavy drums.
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“If they can't pull up at the front, they don't stop.”
The Binney Street shopping strip has a parking limit of two hours, but the limit is not enforced by Strathbogie Shire Council.
Ms McCombe, who is also vice president of the Euroa Chamber of Commerce, said she has spoken to council officers about enforcing the parking limit.
“They are hesitant to do that because it breeds ill will, and I fully understand that it does,” she said.
“They don't want to look like they're just revenue raising.”
She said the parking situation was particularly bad from morning until 2pm, when more spaces are available.
Local bird photographer Bill Harris, one of the artists behind Binney Street’s Pop-Up Arts Euroa, said the problem appears to be getting worse.
He agreed Binney Street employees are taking advantage of the unenforced parking limit, adding: “I think if the retail environment were to continue to grow, then something needs to be done to support those retailers that rely on people parking outside or nearby.”
“The town's got a lot of elderly people, and those people obviously aren't always capable of walking long distances, so, they like to park nearby where they're shopping,” he said.
“I'm not sure the town's ready for a parking inspector, but… the two-hour limit would cover most people's shopping requirements, you would think.”
The Nest café worker Tash Lloyd-Williams said she believes some customers are bypassing Binney Street to buy their coffee from local service stations due to the street’s lack of parking.
Ms Lloyd-Williams said she would support council enforcing the 2P limit.
“I think that would be good, because I do notice standing in the window all day, you can see people that are parking there for hours on end,” she said.
Euroa’s Diane Ashton, a customer at Euroa Newsagency on Binney Street last week, said she never drives to Binney Street because of the lack of parking, and she is in favour of enforcing the 2P limit.
“A couple of hours is plenty – you don't want any more than two hours,” Ms Ashton said.
Euroa Chamber of Commerce president Steph Swift said the situation was made worse by last year’s closure of Shannon Lane, a walkway which connected the Euroa Hotel parking lot with Binney Street.
The lane was closed after it was purchased by Euroa’s Jimmy Davidson, who explained last year he closed it because he would be liable for legal damages if an individual was injured at the site.
Ray White Euroa owner Shane Thomson admitted he and his employees sometimes park on Binney Street, because the office has only one parking space out back.
“There's a few of us rotating and out… But we're always in and out, so [we don’t] park all day,” he said.
“There's not much parking at all, especially in those peak, busy periods,” he added.
“Saturday morning, absolutely shocking, can't get a car park.
“I think as the town grows, there's going to be a need for another shopping precinct… maybe over at the west side of town.
“Wouldn't that raise a few feathers?”
The parking on Binney Street could be partly alleviated by Inland Rail’s construction of new parking spaces on Railway Street, outside Euroa Railway Station, with carpark reconstruction works expected to begin late in 2025.
Strathbogie Shire Council’s director of community and planning, Rachael Frampton, said in a statement that council has no current formalised car parking vacancy studies looking at car parking on Binney Street.
The statement did not include suggestions for potential solutions to the problem, or an acknowledgement that council does not enforce the 2P limit – both of which were sought by this masthead.
Ms Frampton confirmed the newly elected councillors have not yet been formally briefed on the issue.
