Planning for Bunbury's Future
As Bunbury continues to grow, so does the need to ensure our City Centre remains easy to access, convenient to visit and supportive of local businesses.
The City of Bunbury's City Centre Parking Strategy 2025-2035 provides a long-term plan for how parking will be managed, monitored and improved over the next 20 years. Endorsed by Council at the 18 August Ordinary Council Meeting, the strategy draws on detailed parking data and local knowledge to identify practical actions that maximise existing parking capacity and prepare for future demand.
The strategy is supported by a 20-year Parking Action Plan, which identifies short, medium and long-term initiatives to improve parking outcomes for residents, visitors, workers and businesses.
What we learned
The strategy confirms that parking across the City Centre is generally performing well, with peak occupancy sitting at approximately 66 per cent across the network.
However, parking demand is not evenly distributed.
Some highly sought-after locations, including areas around Ommanney Street and Blair Street, regularly reach capacity during busy periods, while nearby parking facilities often have available spaces.
This means the City's challenge is not simply about providing more parking spaces. It is about making better use of the parking already available and ensuring high-demand parking remains accessible for shoppers, customers and visitors.
Our priorities
The strategy identifies several key priorities to improve parking outcomes across the City Centre.
Better management of existing parking
The first focus is improving how existing parking is managed. This includes:
- Improved parking enforcement in high-demand locations
- Better monitoring of parking use
- More effective use of existing parking facilities
- Upgrades to parking technology and data collection
These initiatives are expected to deliver immediate benefits and help make prime parking spaces more readily available.
Improved data and technology
Reliable information is essential for good decision-making. The strategy recommends upgrading the City's Smart Parking technology and data collection systems to provide a more accurate and up-to-date understanding of parking demand across the City Centre.
This will allow future decisions to be evidence-based and responsive to changing community needs.
Planning ahead for growth
While current parking supply is considered adequate, the strategy recognises that Bunbury will continue to grow.
The City will continue monitoring parking demand and undertake early planning for future infrastructure options, including investigating potential locations for a multi-deck car park if and when additional capacity is required.
Future parking infrastructure
The strategy found that a multi-deck car park is not currently required based on existing parking demand.
Rather than investing in a large facility before it is needed, the City will focus on improving the efficiency of existing parking while preparing for future growth. Potential locations for future consideration have been identified and assessed, including:
- Wellington Street
- Ommanney Street
- Wittenoom Street (North and South)
- Symmons Street
Any future decision to proceed with a multi-deck facility would require additional investigations, a business case and Council approval.
Working alongside businesses and the community
The City is excited to continue working with businesses, stakeholders and the community as the Parking Strategy moves into implementation. While the strategy has been informed by detailed technical analysis and parking data, local knowledge and feedback will play an important role in shaping how initiatives are delivered.
Initial engagement has already commenced through community pop-up sessions and briefings with the City Centre Activation Advisory Group, providing an opportunity to share the strategy and begin conversations about its future implementation. As actions are developed, the City looks forward to working closely with businesses, stakeholders and the community through targeted workshops, roundtables and other engagement activities to help inform and refine proposed initiatives.
What happens next?
With the strategy adopted, the City will begin implementing a range of short-term actions, including:
- Improving parking enforcement
- Upgrading parking data and technology systems
- Working with businesses and the community on priority initiatives
- Monitoring parking demand across the City Centre
The strategy has been designed as a living document, meaning it will be reviewed regularly and adapted as Bunbury grows and parking patterns change.
Read the full strategy
The full City Centre Parking Strategy 2025-2035 can be viewed below:
Frequently Asked Questions
The City Centre Parking Strategy 2025–2035 is a long-term, evidence-based plan to guide how parking is managed and delivered across the Bunbury City Centre over the next 20 years. It includes a 20-year Parking Action Plan setting out short, medium and long-term actions to improve parking for shoppers, businesses, workers and visitors.
Bunbury is the largest and fastest-growing regional centre in Western Australia. As the city grows and changes – with more people, more visitors and new development – we need a coordinated, forward-thinking plan to make sure parking continues to support a vibrant, accessible City Centre.
No. The strategy is focused on practical action, with a number of initiatives starting in the short term, including improved enforcement, making better use of existing parking, and upgrading our parking technology and data. It’s also a living document that will be reviewed regularly and adapt as Bunbury grows.
The analysis found that while parking across the City Centre is generally adequate – with overall peak occupancy at around 66 per cent – some areas experience much higher demand than others. Locations like Ommanney Street and Blair Street regularly reach or exceed capacity at peak times, while other car parks have spaces available.
We completely understand that frustration. The challenge isn’t necessarily the overall amount of parking – it’s how demand is distributed. Some prime, high-demand areas fill up quickly (often with all-day parkers), while other car parks just a short walk away have spaces available. The strategy is focused on easing pressure in those busy areas and making better use of the parking we already have.
The strategy draws on Smart Parking data collected between August 2024 and August 2025, supplemented by earlier surveys. We’ve been upfront that there are limitations in the current data, which is exactly why upgrading our Smart Parking systems and improving how we collect and use data is a key priority. Better data means better, more responsive decisions into the future.
This is one of the most common concerns we hear, and it’s a key early focus. Improved parking enforcement will help free up high-demand bays for shoppers, customers and visitors – rather than those spaces being occupied all day by workers. Prime parking should be for people popping in, not parked all day.
Any changes to parking pricing are a possible future tool to help free up spaces in the busiest areas – not an immediate change. Any such changes would only be considered with further work and community and business engagement. Right now, our priority is improved enforcement and making better use of existing parking.
Demand Responsive Pricing is an approach used in cities across Australia and internationally to help keep parking spaces available in high-demand areas. Rather than having the same parking price everywhere and at all times, it allows fees to be tailored to how busy an area is – for example, higher-demand locations may be priced differently to quieter ones, encouraging parking to spread more evenly across the City Centre. It’s identified in the strategy as a potential future tool – but it would require significant further work, and we’d engage with the community and businesses before anything was introduced.
The current data indicates a multi-deck car park won’t be required in the near term – overall parking supply is generally adequate, and the more immediate issue is how existing parking is used and managed. Building a large, expensive facility before it’s needed isn’t a responsible use of community funds. That said, we’re planning ahead so we’re ready to act when the evidence supports it.
The strategy has identified and assessed the best potential future sites and recommends beginning the early planning work (including a business case). This means the City will be ready to move at the right time. Ongoing monitoring means this timeframe could be brought forward if demand increases.
Several potential sites were assessed against a range of criteria. The highest-ranked locations were Wellington Street, Ommanney Street, Wittenoom Street (South and North) and Symmons Street. Any future decision would be subject to detailed assessment and a Council decision.
The strategy itself is a technical, evidence-based document built on parking data and analysis. Before it went to Council, we briefed the City Centre Activation Advisory Group and held community pop-up sessions for local businesses. The next phase – developing the detailed actions and solutions – is where community and business input will be most valuable, and there will be genuine opportunities to get involved.
We’ll be creating opportunities – including workshops and roundtables – for businesses and the community to help shape the action plan and future parking initiatives.
To date, $95,975.00 (excluding GST) has been spent developing the strategy and 20-year Action Plan. Upon adoption, the City does not anticipate any further consultant costs for the strategy itself. Future actions will be budgeted individually as they progress, supported by the City’s Parking Reserve. This reserve is funded through parking fees, as well as “cash-in-lieu” contributions (payments made by developers in lieu of providing on-site parking).
The strategy was prepared by Stantec Australia Pty Ltd (formerly Cardno WA Pty Ltd), working closely with City officers and Councillors to reflect local knowledge and priorities.
We understand that scepticism. The difference is that this strategy is backed by data, includes a clear action plan with defined timeframes, and starts with practical actions now – like improved enforcement and better use of existing parking. It’s also a living document with regular review, so progress can be tracked and the plan kept accountable.
The City will begin rolling out short-term actions, upgrade our parking data and technology, and work with the community and businesses on developing the detail. We’ll also continue to monitor demand closely to guide future decisions.
Yes – it’s designed to. As a living document, it will be reviewed regularly and adapt as Bunbury grows and as we gather better data.