In mid-2012, the Rural City of Wangaratta Council of the time, made a financial decision to partner with the soon to be rebuilt Co Store by leasing 145 car parks for the next 20 years.
A housing and population study predicted significant growth in the rural city and extra parking infrastructure would be required.
The decision was the last of the soon to be dismissed council made during a volatile time for the organisation.
Council's connection to the Co Store carpark from 2014 when it opened has been somewhat of a rod for council's back, as carpark patronage appears well short of its intended potential.
The debt has been bubbling away for more than a decade and the idea of free parking throughout the CBD has been all but a pie in the sky idea due to the siphoning parking contract.
A strong argument can be made for paid parking acting as a barrier between consumers and local businesses, a sentiment that has been voiced by the community in recent times.
In the early days of the revamped Co Store people certainly refused to park there as they had to pay for it, and access to the parking was not as easy as today.
Now there is a convenient access ramp off Ovens Street, and the new announcement of free parking for three hours daily in the Co Store is bound to bring livelier patronage.
Council still has to responsibly factor in its $5 million contract payout penalty, so one would think free CBD street parking isn't any time soon, to the dismay of many local businesses and shoppers.
