Overstrand Municipality received an enquiry from Ward 3 regarding parking control in Hermanus CBD.
The allegation was made that currently there is no parking available in the CBD after 09:00. It was also stated that this is very frustrating for potential customers, who are sorely needed, to stimulate commerce in the CBD.
According to Ward 3 Councillor, Ald Kari Brice, it worked well in the past when the parking tariff was enforced as it encouraged people to park, do business and move on; thus opening parking spaces for the next customers. This practice was temporarily suspended early in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Overstrand Municipal Manager, Dean O’ Neill, the Municipality cannot implement the parking service using parking attendants until we have reached some normalcy again with the pandemic.
The challenge is that they work with cash, which needs to be counted and paid in at certain intervals and this, together with the number of attendants coming to the offices for this purpose, is not conducive to the safety protocols that we need to adhere to. This rings specifically true now that the country is experiencing the official third wave of infections and have been moved to lockdown level 3 by the President on 15 June 2021.
Shopping centres may however, levy parking fees on their own parking areas and this should not be confused with municipal parking areas.
You are welcome to tip local car guards (dressed in green, orange, yellow or pink fluorescent safety vests) for the time spent watching your car.
