Veles municipal council launches procedure to bring back paid parking

The Veles municipal council has launched a phased procedure to reintroduce paid parking across the town, after approving a package that defines public parking lots of municipal importance.

"Adopting this decision does not mean that paid parking in Veles will automatically start tomorrow. It is a step in preparation for introducing paid parking in the future," said Panche Janev, secretary of the Municipality of Veles.

Councilor Aneta Staić welcomed the move but warned it leaves wide discretion to the municipal public enterprise that will operate the system.

Who will set rules and prices

"It leaves a lot of room for decisions by the public enterprise 'Park, Sport and Parking'. The management board itself adopts the regulations for the management and use of the parking areas and for the prices, not the Council. Such was the case in Centar Municipality in Skopje. In practice, the MB will independently decide on resident parking, what documentation is required, on vehicle blocking and parking for persons with disabilities," Staić said.

The council president, Daniel Janevski, said all regulations prepared by the management board of the public enterprise will be sent to the council for a formal decision on their validity and adoption.

According to the newly prepared register, Veles will be divided into zones for paid parking: Zone A with 173 spaces, Zone B with 581 spaces and Zone C with 209 spaces. The total number of listed spaces in the town is 963, which includes the 100 spots in the underground multi-storey garage that is currently under construction.

Certain streets—Blagoj Gjorev from Avona downward and 8 Septemvri from the Post Office to the clock—will remain free for now because they are classified as regional roads and are heavily used; that will remain until the bypass around Veles toward Chashka is built, a project that has been announced for about a year.

The council noted that paid parking was first introduced in December 2020, was active in practice for about six months, and was put on hold in April 2022 after the enterprise reported financial losses during its operation.

Photo: SDK.MK)