Mayor Stretch Kontelj OAM:

We know parking is an important issue for people who live, work, shop and visit central Geelong.

The 12-month free two-hour parking trial has given us a better understanding of how people use parking and how we can plan for the future of our city centre.

The trial attracted stronger than expected participation and provided us with information about parking behaviour, which we are currently analysing.

While the trial provided a clearer understanding of parking behaviour, the data showed free two-hour parking did not result in a significant increase in retail or hospitality spending as we had originally hoped.

The economic data shows that after implementing the trial in July 2025, total spend in Central Geelong only increased by 0.1 per cent in the September 2025 quarter, and 1.8 per cent in the December quarter - with these figures well below inflation, that's a decline in real terms.

Customer numbers grew by 4.2 per cent in December 2025, but total spend only increased by 1.8 per cent, showing a reduction in spending per person under free parking.

The only sector that actually grew was takeaway and fast food outlets, suggesting that free 2P parking increased activity around short-term convenience, but it didn't actually encourage people to stay in Central Geelong and spend more with local businesses. 

The data tells us that targeted initiatives are more effective at bringing people into Central Geelong to support the economy, such as the Geelong City Market. In this budget, we also brought in free alfresco dining permits as another measure to directly support businesses.

We believe these more targeted initiatives will be more effective than free 2P parking was.

We'll continue to focus our investment on initiatives that deliver the best outcomes for our community and local businesses.

Council is undertaking a broader review of parking across the municipality, informed by the trial's findings. Once this work is complete, we'll 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.