FREMANTLE council is looking at simplifying its residential parking permits.

At this week’s finance, policy, operations and legislation committee, councillors looked at giving residents extra hours of free parking as well.

“The current configuration of the residents’ free parking permit is convoluted, with a confusing mix of restrictions and conditions, making it difficult to communicate to residents, negatively affecting take up and use,” a staff report concluded.

The report says the permits were only supposed to be a temporary measure to help out business, which was struggling in 1999 when they were introduced.

But business is still not going so flash, said the report, meaning the permits should be extended.

The updated permits would do away with separate rules for weekdays and weekends.

They would also push parkers off streets and into car parks, which staff reckon will help people to stop worrying about over-staying their visit.

The permits would valid from 3pm to 10am, making sure locals don’t clog up valuable car spaces during the day while commuting to work in the city.

The report says that giving locals extra free parking will eat into the council’s revenue.