East End clothing boutique owner Emily Coker deals with the fallout from the CBD's parking minefield every day.
Delivery trucks and sales reps are unable to park outside her Hunter Street store, Hey Jude Love Pete. More than once this has resulted in her missing a drop-off.
"The shoe rep was here this morning. He drove around the block half a dozen times to find a park and then he had to lug two suitcases into the shop," Ms Coker said.
Then there's the customers, some of whom travel from Port Stephens, Maitland and Lake Macquarie who complain they feel rushed because of parking time limits.
On top of that there is a perception that there is a general lack of parking in the CBD so why bother trying to go there.
But Ms Coker, whose business is adjacent to the former Newcastle Post Office, has proposed a solution that might help counter some of the negativity.
She wants consideration given to providing parking challenged retailers with a permit that their customers could put in their windscreens while they shop.
"If businesses were given two parking permits a day for two hours a pop it would help," she said.
"The customer would collect it when they came into the store and give it back when they left. It would just stop a bit of the whinging that I hear."
"The permit could also be incorporated into an app."
Ms Coker, who has run her store for the past three years, acknowledges that simply creating more long term parking spaces in the CBD is not the silver bullet to the improving trade.
But trying to force everyone onto bikes and public transport is equally futile.
"I get about 30 cardboard boxes delivered to my shop each week. I don't have a wheelie bin so I have to take the cardboard home and I can't do that on public transport," she said.
"A lot of us are parents and we often have to go shopping on the way home or pick up a kid and take them to sport."
"Public transport is wonderful but it's not a practical option for everyone."
The demands of running a business combined with a busy life mean that Ms Coker drives to work.
Until recently she parked at Horseshoe Beach and walked a short distance to her shop. However, an influx of camper vans in the area in recent times means she pays $5 an hour to park on the street.
"It's just ridiculous," she said.
"Suppose I did want to leave my car in the west end and catch the light rail to the top of town every day. Where would I park?"
A City of Newcastle spokeswoman said the council was committed to ongoing improvement in the management of on-street parking spaces to promote the turnover and accessibility of parking in any area.
She said there were a variety of public on-street and private off-street parking locations in the east end of the city, including in Hunter Street, and on Watt and Bolton Streets, with easy access from the Newcastle Light Rail in Scott Street.
"We engage with business representatives and advocacy groups, such as Business Improvement Associations and Business Hunter, to seek input to parking options that serve the majority of providers within an area," she said.
"City of Newcastle supports the NSW Government Mobility Parking Scheme to improve the accessibility of parking spaces by providing permits that allow access to designated disability parking spaces, as well allowing free parking in paid parking areas and to park longer than signposted restrictions."
The council's parking plan is designed to provide direction, projects and strategies to support parking within Newcastle over the next 10 years.
It was informed by surveys, planning and investigation, including a review of best practice parking management within commercial areas.
International studies suggest that motorists are not concerned with the quantum of parking on offer; rather, they are concerned about how easily they can find a parking space.
Thinking outside the box
Jeff McCloy's interest in the Newcastle CBD goes back half a century.
As a developer he has bought and sold dozens of properties in the city centre over the years.
As Lord Mayor between 2012 and 2014 he advocated for initiatives to attract more businesses into the city.
Mr McCloy spent about an hour driving around the east end this week to identify what he considered were opportunities to create more parking spaces.
"(Parking) is a major issue for our traders. If the council sets its mind to it, there are plenty of opportunities to create more parking," he said.
"I just drove down the mall and there are car parks everywhere. You could relocate those seats that no one sits on and you would create another 40-50 car parks easily."
The locations identified by Mr McCloy included the former Newcastle Bowling Club site overlooking King Edward Park.
Mr McCloy suggested 100 spaces could be created on site with a minimum of effort.
The Awabakal Aboriginal Land Council acquired the land as part of a 2018 land claim.
It does not have short term plans to develop the site.
Council chief executive Kumarah Kelly said Mr McCloy's suggestion could have merit.
"I would have to check (if it was possible), but I'm not opposed to it," she said.
She said motorists often parked on the site during major events.
Jeff McCloy's suggestions for potential new city car parking locations.
- The former Newcastle Bowling Club site
- Chapman Real Estate - Vacant land behind the business could be used for a stacker car park station.
- Hunter St mall - rearranging seating, planter boxes, bollards and lights and introducing nose-to-kerb parking would see an estimated 40 additional parking spaces created.
- Bike lane at the west end of the mall - Should be removed and replaced with parking as it is a bike lane that goes from nowhere to nowhere.
- Roadway between the Port Authority and the roundabout near Customs House - presently blocked off, could hold an additional 80 car parks if the road was opened and made one-way with nose-to-kerb car parking.
- Potential parking could also be created at the Newcastle Railway Station.
