Tamworth's Peel Street parking meters are still frustrating main street business owners, but the Tamworth Business Chamber says it'll wait for hard data before presenting its case to the council.

"There's a lot of emotion tied up with the parking meters in Peel Street," Chamber president Dave Errington, of Apollo Engineering, told the Leader.

"Whether it's good or bad, it's probably early days, but we've got to get data together to be able to ascertain whether it's had a significant impact to the CBD or not."

A month into the new parking regime isn't enough time to assess what impact it's had on CBD business, Mr Errington said, adding he understands that it's a sore point with members, but the organisation needed hard data to take to the council.

"[Peel Street business owners are] frustrated. The view is that the parking meters are having an impact on the business," he said.

"But the data [won't] lie, so at the end of the day, if it is having a major impact on the CBD, then it's something that council needs to have a look at."

The meters come after an already challenging year for Tamworth business, Mr Errington said, with cost of living and power price increases making business more expensive, alongside housing and labour shortages across the district.

Labour shortages, which are driven by the lack of available housing, coupled with a low unemployment rate, are making it hard for business to expand.

The coming year will offer more of the same, he said, but there's some hope on the horizon as more developments should increase housing and work for Tamworth workers and businesses.

"This last year's probably been a little challenging when it comes to the housing front, but it does appear that things are starting to open up, with some new subdivisions like Arcadia pushing ahead," Mr Errington said.

"Hopefully in the new year we'll start to see some green shoots there."

The next year's challenges and opportunities will be met by the new board, which was locked in on Sunday.

Three interim directors - the Powerhouse's Daine Hamilton-Cooper, First National's Margo Taggart, and Forsyths' Steve Thomson - are staying on as fully-fledged board members.

The Pub Group's Aydan Marshall is the only fresh blood on the board.

Current board member Simon Walden, from Leading Edge Data Centres, will take over from Centrepoint's Martin Howes as vice-president.

Source: Northern Daily Leader - Tom Plevey - November 25 2025 4:00pm