Hobart councillors pressed on 20% parking rise and lost meter income near Royal Hobart Hospital

Public questioning at City of Hobart council focused on a 20% lift in carparking charges and concerns about lost meter income around the Royal Hobart Hospital and nearby streets.

Parking changes around the Royal Hobart Hospital, Argyle Street, Campbell Street and Gladstone Street were pushed to the centre of Hobart’s budget debate after residents questioned a 20% rise in carparking costs and the loss of meter income.

Chris Merridew told councillors the advertised rate would rise from $5 an hour to $6 an hour. He said carparking and infringements brought in $28.2 million in 2024-25 and asked whether council was relying on motorists to fill a wider revenue gap.

He pointed to earlier advice that Collins Street parking meters were expected to reduce income by $302,000 across 45 metres. Merridew said another 45 metres near the hospital precinct and along nearby streets would stop producing income for council, leaving what he described as a further $750,000 in reduced infringements.

He also questioned whether council had looked hard enough at savings within its own business operations, rather than increasing costs for drivers and losing turnover from people visiting the hospital and nearby businesses.

The Lord Mayor did not take the questions during public question time because the same topic was already on the agenda later in the meeting. They were instead treated as general correspondence, with written responses to follow.

The issue sat alongside a broader budget package that council adopted on the night, including the 2026-27 rates resolution and fees and charges update. The budget set the general rate at 0.3016 cents in the dollar of capital value, with differential rates by land use, and the Lord Mayor said residential ratepayers had been told the average rates rise was about $1.82 a week.

The budget also included waste management service charges, FOGO collection charges and a waste management levy offset charge, while council said the package targeted a $3 million surplus and more than $3 million in operational savings.

For hospital visitors, commuters, traders and nearby workers, the parking dispute was the sharpest flashpoint in a night of budget decisions. It centred on who pays for council revenue and how much parking supply Hobart is prepared to remove in the city centre and around the hospital precinct.