It’s a strange paradox that Maitland Aroma Festival, which is such a successful event for the city, could cause problems for some businesses in the CBD.
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But that’s what happened at Pender Place on the weekend.
Rather than using the many free, public car parks around central Maitland, some people parked their cars in the sheltered Pender Place car park and walked to the river bank to enjoy Aroma.
Centre management and business owners at Pender Place are rightly upset that this happens whenever there is a major event held in Maitland.
Every car space taken up by someone who doesn’t intend to spend money at Pender Place is one less car park available for someone who wants to shop there.
However, part of the reason that this is a problem is because events such as Aroma, Taste and Steamfest draw such large crowds to the city.
An estimated 14,000 people wandered through The Levee during Aroma.
Maitland City Council did the right thing by erecting signs and advertising the locations of public car parks online ahead of the festival.
It’s hard to imagine that people would return to another Maitland festival if they travelled a significant distance to get here and received a fine because of a parking crackdown.
So maybe it’s time to consider establishing a shuttle bus from a large parking area at the Steamfest rally ground, Maitland Showground or somewhere similar.
Newcastle council runs shuttle buses to King Edward Park for its Christmas carols event.
It’s not inconceivable that something similar could be done here in Maitland.
