PERHAPS the councillors all parked their cars at the train station on Tuesday night and didn't want to draw the attention of the parking police.
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Perhaps it was the knowledge of the next ordinary meeting being three weeks away.
Whatever it was, the six councillors on deck were in a rush to leave Tuesday night's ordinary meeting at Ray Walsh House.
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In took just ten minutes for the councillors to wave through all of the motions on the agenda, including a controversial move to introduce parking patrols at the train station and Officeworks.
The vote also backed continued parking inspections at the Tamworth Square mall.
Not everyone in the community was impressed with the move, with some suggesting it would be an inconvenience particularly for elderly shoppers.
The councillors unanimously backed the new and extended measures in the hope it would push more motorists to use the currently existing free, all-day parking.
Russell Webb made his support known in the brief meeting.
We've got a lot of work to do in terms of providing parking ... But this is one step in the right direction.
- Councillor Russell Webb
"It reinforces the strategies we have in place now and the people utilising those opportunities perhaps they shouldn't be will have to reconsider how they do their business," Cr Webb said.
He said approving a close, watchful eye over the timed parking lots would be beneficial for the business and "the CBD as a whole".
But he suggested the council had a long way to go in terms of providing adequate parking in Tamworth.
"We've got a lot of work to do in terms of providing parking," he said.
"But this is one step in the right direction."
The mayor, Col Murray, also saw the merits in getting the city's motorists thinking about where they're going to park.
"This is only timed parking management," Cr Murray said.
"There is no fees attached to the initiative ... It's something appropriate for council to do to assist businesses.
"And some of the long-term, all-day free parking is under-utilised."
The council makes $26,575 a year for the parking patrols it provides at Tamworth Square car park, plus the fines that are issued to drivers.
While it will cost the Officeworks landowners between $5000 and $8500 for the signage and fees for the service.
In the flurry of motions, the councillors also approved a $187,000 spend to install a communications tower near Dungowan Dam to closely monitor water storage and detect earthquake activity.