There are just 10 days left to have your say on proposed changes to parking on and around Darby Street, Cooks Hill.
City of Newcastle is looking at extending the hours of timed parking on weekdays and Sundays and removing unrestricted parking in some surrounding streets, as well as increasing 1-hour parking zones to 2 hours.
It's not yet known whether the changes would have a positive or negative effect on cafes and shops, with owners, employees and members of the public encouraged to make submissions on Council's website.
The Hunter Business Chamber says the idea hasn't come out of nowhere, with initial consultations pointing to a positive reception from Newcastle businesses.
"Part of the problem was we had different sides of the street on different time periods," Chamber CEO Bob Hawes explained, "that did require harmonisation and it was a question of whether to go to one hour or two, and obviously the Darby Street precinct has strong recognition for cafe culture and meals - sometimes one hour is a bit tight."
There are some concerns however that employees at those cafes and shops will be left with nowhere to park for the day.
Bob Hawes believes it would be a worthwhile sacrifice.
"What this is doing is pushing some of the unrestricted areas out a little bit further from the central core of the Darby Street precinct, so definitely for workers who are needing to park for a longer period of time, they're going to have to walk further - there's no doubt about that," he said, "but this is about striking a balance between the needs of residents, patrons to businesses and workers."
Submissions are open until November 12th.
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