A fight is brewing with councils over changes which would allow any Sydney resident to buy a cheap permit for beach parking.
In April, Transport for NSW (TfNSW) quietly started a consultation about parking permit changes which would make access to beaches ‘more equitable’ for local renters and ‘on fair terms’ for ‘all residents of NSW.’
Mosman Council already allows tenants to buy a yearly foreshore permit for $61, with the fee for non-residents set at $264 for Balmoral on weekends. Other councils like Northern Beaches do not allow non-residents to buy foreshore permits.
Mosman Mayor Ann Marie Kimber has labelled the changes ‘confusing’ and a ‘political stunt.’ “They are trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist,” she said.
Under the proposed new regulations, which would be implemented in July, permit prices for non-residents must be set according to certain principles, including: “The public has a right to access foreshore (and) beaches; pricing cannot be used to unreasonably disadvantage or deter applicants from outside council’s area of operations.”
Mayor Kimber said parking was usually at capacity at Mosman’s beaches and any move to make it cheaper would create much higher demand. “If you look at the NSW Government’s own policies on things like peak and off-peak opal card rates and electricity rates throughout the day, they use different pricing to manage demand. And that’s exactly what councils do with parking.
“This will only make (finding a park) worse.”
Money generated from permits and parking revenue was used to keep the ‘increasingly popular’ beaches ‘very clean’ and well-maintained for users who came from all across Sydney, Mayor Kimber said. “It costs us a lot to do that.” The mayor estimated that the government’s changes would cost council up to $300,000 – but the government would incur no expense.
“There are bigger things that the government could be doing to address the housing affordability crisis, like working with community housing providers, rather than focusing on these incidental smaller things. All it’s going to do is put more financial pressure on local government, which I don’t think is a very good outcome.”
Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison told NL that beaches were ‘an essential and much loved resource for everyone.’ Councils needed to consider the ‘equity’ of their rules, she said. “A third of people rent their home and that number is rising. We do not think it is reasonable to say in a cost-of-living crisis they don’t deserve the same access to their local beach as homeowners. It’s a fairness issue.”
The draft guidelines can be viewed at Transport for NSW and comments sent to parking_guidelines@transport.nsw.gov.au by 2 May.