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The National Retail Association says limits on free parking at the national’s major shopping centres over the busy Christmas period is warranted.
The National Retail Association (NRA) Australia’s largest and most representative retail organisation with over 3000 members and affiliates located across all Australian states and territories. The NRA membership includes most of Australia’s national retail chains and typically accounts for about 70% of tenants in our major shopping precincts.
The NRA’s Executive Director Gary Black said “Major suburban shopping centres in Sydney and Melbourne have had limited free parking for customers for decades. It is inevitable that similar arrangements will be introduced in Brisbane.”
“Suburban shopping centres generally provide free parking for customers, but shopping centres are increasingly being used as hubs for public transport services and consequently hundreds of car parks are being used by commuters as free all day parking. Shopping centre car parks are also frequently used by nearby businesses for staff and customer parking. The use of car parks by non-shoppers causes substantial congestion and inconvenience for legitimate customers, particularly in peak periods such as the lead up to Christmas and the post Christmas sales,” said Mr Black.
“The simplest way to ensure that car parks are only used by genuine customers is to place some limit on the period of free parking provided which discourages all day parking by other users. Any initiative that makes the shopping experience easier for genuine customers would be supported by retailers in these centres.”