The Brussels Parliament has approved the draft parking ordinance. That happened majority against opposition. One of the goals is to organize as much as possible outside the public road.

The text envisaged four plans from the Regional Parking Policy Plan (GPBP) and the Municipal Parking Action (GPAP), the harmonization of the municipal parking fee regulations, the integration of the Good Move objectives with a shift to ‘off street’ parking and the agency of the parking agency.

The text forms the basis for important implementing decrees, such as the decree that determines the price ranges of the rates for ‘on-street’ parking, the fixed fees and the exemption cards for residents.

Public parking

In addition, attention is paid to the public parking spaces that need to be rolled out and to on-street parking itself. This will be organized in a red zone that is the green zones in the commercial centers, a zone that is more residential and reserved for target groups.

It also contains provisions on fees and the thresholds and rate ranges of the rates of the zones. Finally, the structure, management bodies, operation and tasks of the Parking Agency are also laid down.

Anne-Charlotte d’Ursel (MR) mercilessly slammed down the draft ordinance, just like in the committee. How can the government increase parking fees and discourage parking in times of crisis, she wondered. According to her, the intention is to dislodge the car in a devious way. For her, this framework ordinance is a missed opportunity. For example, Parking.brussels had previously been screened.

For Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA), the parking policy in Brussels is pure Kafka, with its own rules, systems and rates in each of the 19 Brussels municipalities. She also denounced that there are few instruments in the ordinance to improve the operation of the parking agency. Van Achter also denounced the lack of logic in the text. “It’s just about deleting, deleting, deleting, but there is hardly anything to be found about creating ‘offstreet’ places,” said the N-VA politician, for whom there is no question of harmonizing the policy. but for more power for the municipalities.

People with reduced mobility

Van Achter also had questions about how to solve the problems with parking tickets for people with limited mobility. Because there were problems with the detection of the cards by the scan cars, a system of pre-registration was chosen. “I can understand that people have opted for as few obstacles as possible, but care must also be taken that the system is not sensitive to fraud”, says Cieltje Van Achter.

Arnaud Verstraete (Groen) foresaw that a well-thought-out solution would be found for parking tickets for people with limited mobility. He argued that this meets the criticism of Unia and CaWAB that actual obstacles are being faced. The ordinance that free parking with a parking card is possible after a registration registration. Those who keep using the same use can subscribe to a white list, which must be used by all Brussels municipalities, according to Verstraete, who added that the system is also used in Liège and Paris.

Increased rates

PVDA also voted against the ordinance because of the increase in rates and the elimination of parking spaces. According to Leila Lahssaini. She also criticized the use of existing scan cars, which are imprecise works and replace a lot of staff.

Dominiek Lootens (Vlaams Belang) criticized the speed with which the minister wants to delete parking spaces without providing sufficient alternatives. According to him, an efficient parking policy is only possible if things are put in order at Parking.brussels.