'This is robbery': Hospital worker outraged as street parking fees double

Brisbane residents are taking matters into their own hands after several motorists in one street were slapped with parking fines.

A Melbourne healthcare worker has revealed her shock after the cost of metered street parking near the hospital where she works doubled.

The 100 percent hike in "all-day outside CBD" parking meter fees is part of a raft of changes to street parking costs implemented by the City of Melbourne on July 1.

The changes are expected to net the council an extra $5 million in revenue this financial year.

The medical scientist, who works at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, told 9news.com.au she will now have to fork out an extra $50 per week for street parking in the inner-city suburb of Parkville.

"I have been paying $1 per hour for all day parking, today I was forced to pay $2 per hour," the hospital worker, who asked for her name to be withheld, said.

"I think it's completely unreasonable to double it. It's ridiculous," she said.

"This is not CPI, this is robbery."

The new metered street parking rates were approved at a City of Melbourne council meeting last month and included in the 2024-2025 budget.

Other changes to the parking tariffs include introducing peak and cheaper off-peak rates, as well as paid parking on Sundays.

On-street parking fees in the CBD will not increase, remaining at $7 per hour for peak times and $4 per hour for off-peak times and weekends.

The changes are expected to increase the council's revenue from parking fees by 10.9 percent.

The City of Melbourne's parking fees revenue will increase to $54 million in 2024-2025, up from $48.7 million in the 2023-2024 financial year, according to the budget.

The healthcare worker said she did not have a permanent carpark space at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and casual spots were expensive and often filled up by 8.30am.

The area where she parked on the street was regularly also used by Melbourne University staff and students, as well as staff at other local hospitals.

"It's school holidays at the moment, these students are going to come back from university holidays and they're going to be slugged with having to pay twice as much," she said.

A City of Melbourne spokesperson said it was the first time the all-day parking hourly rate had been increased in six years.

"The City of Melbourne has welcomed 17,000 new residents in the past year alone and demand for parking is only increasing," the spokesperson said.

"We're working to make parking simpler, fairer and more reliable, to ensure residents can access services and shop at local businesses in our neighbourhoods."

"While parking fees within the CBD have not increased for the seventh straight year, in our neighbourhoods, we have raised the all-day paid parking hourly rate from $1 to $2 – the first change to this fee in six years."

In an email response to the healthcare worker's complaint about the rise in street parking fees, seen by 9news.com.au, the council said the extra revenue raised would be "invested back into city infrastructure and services".