Armidale Shire Council introduced parking fees at Armidale Regional Airport on Wednesday and Mayor Simon Murray said it would cut down on opportunistic use of the facility and give the ratepayers of Armidale a slight return on their investment.
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These fees are far cheaper than other places ...
- Cr Simon Murray
He said no drop-off charges would be introduced and no parking metres introduced.
"The first two hours are free and then there's five dollars a day up until midnight," Cr Murray said.
"If you go over midnight it becomes $10 per day for a 24 hour period and $70 per week, or you look at the options of hiring Edwards Car Park."
"I don't know what Edwards charge, but that's what people should be weighing up. If people are going away for a week or two, then they might be better off in putting their car somewhere in Armidale and catching a taxi to and from the airport."
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Cr Murray said the fees were discussed by council some time ago.
"They were all part of a package and if i remember correctly, this goes back to Ian Tiley's time as administrator because I was on the advisory committee and the prices came out of that," he said.
"And the agreement was that fees for parking would occur after substantial upgrading of the parking area, and that has happened.
"These fees are far cheaper than other places, but they are still an incentive for people not to go out there and leave their cars parked there."
Cr Murray said the reality was that ratepayers were losing half a million dollars a year through the airport and these fees would share a little of that cost with the rest of the region.
