Regan may be right. But some councils are already turning beach parking into profit: Waverley is selling permits to non-residents for $2110 a year.
At present, Mosman and Northern Beaches councils issue free parking at local beaches to ratepayers but charge renters for the same permit. For example, on the Northern Beaches, homeowners are issued two free, annual parking permits to 40 local beaches while renters need to apply and pay $250 for a parking sticker. In Mosman, property owners have a free access sticker to four car parks, including Balmoral and the Spit, while resident renters can purchase up to two permits for $61 each.
Graham said the government was also considering changes to parking guidelines that would prevent councils blocking renting residents in strata units and multi-dwelling properties from obtaining residential parking permits on the same terms as other residents. The government recently put an end to Woollahra Council’s 15 minutes time limit for visitors to Watsons Bay while residents had full-day parking.
It will be up to the councils to decide whether to give renters the more equitable deal. But the government’s magnanimity is almost politically painless. Neither Mosman nor suburbs from Manly to Palm Beach vote Labor.
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