The topic was raised at last week's ordinary meeting of Bathurst Regional Council, as councillors discussed the developer contributions that will be required to be paid for a shortfall of parking.

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Council determined that the site is required to provide 39 on-site parking spaces, but only 32 were proposed to be provided.

Developer contributions of $134,721.30 were imposed as a condition of consent, with the money to be used by council at a later date to increase parking in Bathurst.

At the meeting, councillor John Fry said that council should be considering angled parking for lower Keppel Street, which would increase the number of spaces available outside Tremain's Mill.

Speaking to the Western Advocate, Cr Fry said he would like to see angled parking spaces installed between Manilla and Havannah streets, but only on the Tremain's Mill side.

"Just that section in front of Tremain's could go to 45 degrees as a trial and we'd double the spaces just there," he said.

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With more businesses moving into the Tremain's Mill precinct, he believes it's important that more parking is made available in lower Keppel Street.

"I think it's very important to get more parking there because it's become a real business hub. The Tremain's complex has already created 10 new jobs, and I think that's excluding the childcare, and if a gym comes there will be more jobs as well," he said.

There has been debate, in the past and recently, over whether or not the centre median island would have to be removed to allow for angled parking.

If it has to be removed, council staff have previously estimated that the cost of the project would be in excess of $500,000.

However, Cr Fry believes it is possible to have angled parking without removing the median, which he says would bring the costs down to between $5000 and $10,000.

"I ask that the developer pays that cost, $5000 to $10,000, through the car parking contributions," he said, adding that they would get the most benefit from the additional spots.

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