THE council has floated the possibility of building a multi-storey car park in the CBD.
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A 20-point plan has been put forward which highlights the vast number of free spaces which go largely unused and the need to "increase the use of active transport alternatives".
But it does also mention a plan to build a multi-storey parking facility in the CBD.
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The council's CBD parking strategy project manager Anna Russell said no specific sites had been chosen for expansion yet.
The draft strategy, which should cater for the region over the next 10 years, said there were "on average, at least 1500 vacant car spaces at any one time" near the CBD.
Ms Russell said getting more cars in these spaces was a priority.
"We have hundreds of vacant car spaces every day and none of them are more than a ten minutes' walk from the post office and we're looking at improving the utilisation of those car spaces," she said.
"It means we don't have to invest as much money in building new car spaces."
Ms Russell highlighted the council's recent spend on CCTV and lighting at the Gipps Street facility after safety concerns were brought to the council.
Publicly-owned car spaces come at a significant cost to councils, according to the draft strategy.
Costs to purchase and develop land near the Tamworth CBD means it can cost the council about $11,000 per space.
Ongoing maintenance can add "to the financial commitment by approximately $5000 for every 100 car spaces".
The council document also calls for the promotion of "active transport alternatives".
The project manager suggested it would be a way to tackle congestion in the centre of the city.
"The council has prepared a draft active transport strategy that will be released in the coming months," she said.
"We also obtained $3 million-plus of funding to provide shared pathways across the city, linking all of the commercial, education and recreation centres, so people can walk and cycle more often.
"We need to make sure we manage congestion in the city and that's one of the ways we can do it, encouraging people out of their cars and on to the paths."
The strategy can be found online.