Tamworth Regional Council announced free parking at the airport would end from late October, with travellers set to pay up to $60 a week.
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From Monday, October 24, Tamworth airport users will be required to pay for parking.
As part of plans to ease users into the system the new boom gates will be in operation form October 10 but no fees will be charged for a fortnight.
In a mixed week for the Tamworth Regional Airport, council also announced the addition of a fourth airline to the terminal, Fly Corporate, which it is hoped will boost competition between airlines for local travellers.
Fly Corporate’s new weekday service between Brisbane and Tamworth will start the end of October and came after Virgin scaled back its overnight flights to Sydney.
TRC’s airport and aviation development manager, Julie Stewart, said the paid-parking scheme would address issues with carpark usage. “People are finding it difficult to find carparks near the airport, they’re finding they have to park in the long term area when there’s vehicles parked for long periods of time in front of the terminal,” Ms Stewart said.
The new structure, which was approved by council in May, will allow for two-hours of free parking in the short-term area, with $2 an hour charged for each additional hour with a maximum $10 fee for 24 hours in the short-term area and $8 a day in the long-term area.
“In the short-term it will be $60 a week, whereas, in the long-term we’re looking at $35 a week,” she said.
In other council news, sporting clubs in Tamworth will be eagerly awaiting the outcome of a fee restructure for council-owned facilities, set to be handed down by year’s end.
TRC’s acting horticulture and parks manager Murray Russell says the fee restructure should provide a more equitable system for the town’s sporting ground users. Mr Russell said council was looking at establishing a hierarchy of the region’s sporting grounds to create a fairer playing field for the various users. The plans are only in the early stages, but some concerns from the sporting community are filtering through.
Northern Inland Football president Tim Coates says “affordability is the bottom line” for local clubs and codes. “Sport is a big part of the economy in Tamworth,” Mr Coates said. “We need to make sure we’re not killing the goose that lays the golden egg.