Citywide Parking Scheme – Parking Precincts Plan

Council endorsed the Parking Strategic Plan 2023 at the Council Meeting on 28 February 2023 and will implement its key actions, including the implementation of a Citywide Parking Scheme and visitor pay Smart Parking in key locations.

Permits will be available for Blue Mountains residents, ratepayers, businesses and their employees for FREE parking, when Stage 1 of the Visitor Pay Smart Parking Scheme commences. Carer Permits will also be available for FREE parking for those who live outside the Blue Mountains and care for a local resident, as well as for contractors who are temporarily working in the Blue Mountains.

There will be a 3-month transition period, from 1 July to 30 September 2023, to enable residents, ratepayers, businesses, employees, carers and contractors to apply for FREE parking permits before any compliance activity commences for visitor pay parking. Any driver that overstays in timed restricted parking locations in town centres could continue to be fined during that period and after, as they are now.

During community consultation about the Citywide Parking Scheme, 71% of responders agreed that Council should charge visitors to park in the Blue Mountains to help pay for services, facilities and infrastructure.

Read the Media Release: Visitor Pay Smart Parking to get underway in July 2023

The smart parking project is to be rolled out in stages.

Stage 1 - from July 2023

Smart parking (sensors, parking meters and signage) will be rolled out in existing time restricted parking locations in town/village centres at:

• Blackheath
• Katoomba
• Leura
• Wentworth Falls and
• Glenbrook. Please note: sensors only will be installed in Glenbrook town centre in Stage 1 in order to analyse current traffic turnover in the village, given its proximity to Penrith.

Smart parking will also be rolled out in existing time restricted parking zones at the following key visitation sites at:

• Echo Point, Katoomba. This is to bring Echo Point in line with the new Citywide Parking Permit Scheme.
• Lincoln's Rock, Wentworth Falls. This rollout has been brought forward due to requests from residents in the area.

Stage 2 - from November 2023

At the 30 May 2023 Council Meeting, Blue Mountains City Council endorsed the public exhibition of the Draft Key Visitation Parking Precincts Plan that outlines the plan for nine high demand visitation sites that will also have smart parking infrastructure operational by November 2023.

These locations include:

• Cahill’s & Boar’s Head Lookouts, Katoomba
• Echo Point Precinct, Katoomba (expansion of existing)
• Katoomba Falls
• Gordon Falls, Leura
• Leura Cascades
• Wentworth Falls Lake
• Falls Road adjacent to Wentworth Falls Lookout
• Fletcher Street and Valley Road adjacent to Conservation Hut, Wentworth Falls
• Lincoln’s Rock, Wentworth Falls (expansion of existing).

You can have your say on the Draft Parking Precincts Plan from 5 June until 17 July, 2023.

Read the Media Release: Public Exhibition of the Draft Key Visitation Parking Precincts Plan

Stage 3

This stage will include the ongoing implementation of smart parking to additional areas. The introduction of smart parking to such areas may be due to:

• visitation increases to a location
• a future parking precinct plan recommends the introduction of smart parking functions
• new parking infrastructure is installed, or
• areas where high parking demand already occurs however, did not already have timed parking restrictions in place at the time of implementing Stage 1.

For more information:

• Read the Endorsed Parking Strategic Plan 2023
• Read the Frequently Asked Questions (on this page)
• Subscribe to stay informed (top right of this page)
• Or go to https://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/parking-strategic-plan to keep up to date on the implementation of this project.

Stage Two of Community Consultation on Citywide Parking Scheme: Public exhibition of Draft Parking Strategic Plan 2022

The Draft Parking Strategic Plan 2022 is an update of the 2018 Citywide Parking Strategic Plan to align with the Community Strategic Plan 2035, developed in consultation with the community. It has also been informed by the Blue Mountains Integrated Transport Strategic Plan, the Blue Mountains Visitor Infrastructure Investment Strategic Plan (VIISP), and Council’s adopted and draft Town and Village Masterplans.

The update aligns transport planning for our City with our planetary health, sustainability and resilience objectives in light of the recent and future challenges posed by climate change and anticipated increase in visitation following international COVID-10 lockdowns.

The purpose of this Strategy is to:

1. Provide a strategic framework to improve traffic and transport functionality across the city, including a pay parking scheme that manages traffic demand and congestion whilst providing revenue for visitor and resident infrastructure.
2. Guide the progressive improvement of knowledge about of transport trends and implement strategies to improve planetary health through better transport options for visitors and residents.
3. Enable and guide ongoing community and stakeholder engagement during the ongoing staged implementation of parking management in the City.
4. Provide a framework for the staged implementation of a Parking Precincts Plan (PPP) for priority visitor destinations within the City. A list of Priority Precincts included in the draft strategy, will be reviewed in the light of submissions to this strategy and ongoing community engagement.

Submissions on the Draft Parking Strategic Plan closed on 20 January 2023.

Feedback received during this stage of consultation, as well as feedback received during stage one, will be reported to the elected Council in February 2023 and a decision will then be made on whether to endorse the Citywide Parking Scheme.

Over the past three years the Blue Mountains has experienced four natural disasters which have left a damage bill of more than $400 million. This includes damage to almost one-third of our road network and 66 landslides.

Ageing infrastructure in the Blue Mountains was not built to withstand the effects of climate change and so we do need to build it back better, so that it can withstand future natural disasters.

Council has made significant improvements to its financial situation over the past 10 years but given the challenges going forward, we need to find ways to provide other income streams for the City without burdening our ratepayers.

A Citywide Parking Scheme, where visitors to the City pay to park, would help generate the income we need. It would also help fund the critically-required renewal of services, facilities and infrastructure including repair of the road network in the Blue Mountains.

Visitor Paid Parking Schemes are very common. Currently, 45 suburbs in Sydney have Citywide Parking Schemes.

Residents, or people that run businesses or work in the Blue Mountains, would not have to pay for parking. Only visitors would pay to park in these spaces.

You can get more information by reading our Frequently Asked Questions.

The first phase of consultation closed on 21 November 2022. The results will be reported to the Council in February 2023.