A multi-storey carpark in the CBD to keep up with a growing population could soon be on the cards as the council looks to the future of the city.
Tamworth Regional Council has completed a 10-year strategy for the expansion and management of parking infrastructure, part of which will investigate options to build a multistorey car parking facility.
The business papers revealed that the city will need to continue to expand the long term parking network by at least 40 car spaces each year to meet future demand under the goals of reaching 100,000 residents by 2041.
Currently, there are more than 3500 council-owned parking spaces with 760 of those metered.
During a community consultation period, council discovered 50 per cent of respondents are only willing to walk one to two blocks to reach their destination from a car park, while about 45 per cent respondents stay longer than two hours when visiting the CBD on a weekday.
It was also revealed that the most important factors when selecting a car park are whether the car park is free, and its proximity to the desired destination, which exceeded the importance of lighting, security and time to walk.
The plan will be discussed and voted on at tonight’s meeting.