Larger garages planned in bid to curb on-street parking congestion in SA
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas says garages and carports are becoming simply too small at new dwellings across Adelaide. (ABC News: Guido Salazar)
In short:
The SA Government is proposing changes to planning legislation in SA to help prevent on-street parking congestion.
The changes would require developers to provide a garage that is at least 6-metres long and 3.5m wide.
What's next?
The state government will consult the community before it plans to introduce a new bill in Parliament this year.
The South Australian government wants to increase the size of parking spaces in garages for new residential builds, but the opposition and industry groups say it will just make properties more expensive for buyers.
The proposed changes to planning legislation would require developers of new dwellings to provide a minimum number of car parks based on the number of bedrooms.
Minimum dimensions of garages would also be increased so large vehicles can be parked, allowing doors to be opened without hitting garage walls.
Developers who do not meet the requirements may face fees up to $45,000.
Premier Peter Malinauskas says the state government has drafted a bill to help combat on-street parking congestion. (ABC News: Guido Salazar)
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the proposed bill would go through community consultation before being introduced in Parliament this year.
"I think currently the regulation allows for developers to build new properties with garages that are frankly just too narrow," Premier Peter Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"You can't even fit a Hilux or a four-wheel drive in them and that just doesn't make sense given that's where such a significant proportion of the new sale car market in Australia comes from."
The proposed changes are aimed at accommodating for increases in population and housing density.
The Premier said garages would need to be half a metre bigger than current standards require them to be, at least 6 metres by 3.5m.
The Premier says current regulations mean residents don't have space to open car doors in garages. (ABC News: Steve Keen)
He said the proposed changes would also centre around providing enough space for car parking for new developments.
"If you're doing a subdivision, or whatever it may be, and you're having a home with two bedrooms or more, then you're going to have to have two car parks," he said.
The proposal will include exemptions for apartment buildings, and for new homes built in certain areas including the CBD and North Adelaide, Mr Malinauskas said.
'People fight for room to get a park'
Newton resident Sally says people have to fight for parking on her street because of small garage sizes. (ABC News: Guido Salazar)
Newton resident Sally McRae said she has lived at her home for more than 20 years and said there had been a noticeable shift to smaller new builds in the area.
She said residents on her street had been impacted and often found it hard to find space to park.
"I find it very difficult, especially if everyone is home from work in the night, there’s nowhere to park," Ms McRae said.
“I have people that get home later in the night and can’t even get a park around here, that have to park in another street.
"People actually fight for room in this street to get a park."
Concerns with increased costs
The Premier admitted there had been resistance to the proposed changes from developers but they had been told the changes were coming.
Property Council SA President Bruce Djite says he expects the costs of this proposal to be passed onto home buyers. (ABC News)
Executive Director of the Property Council SA Bruce Djite is one of those showing resistance, with concerns for home buyers and builders.
"I think it's important that the public understand all this is going to do is make affordability worse," he said.
"There's no doubt that these costs are going to be passed on."
He said he expects this change to have little impact on the number of vehicles parking on suburban streets.
"A lot of people can't afford to buy a home … you've got kids staying at home longer," he said.
"All this is going to do at the end of the day is, I mean, more people have got a bigger storage space because that's what the garage's will be used for ... it'll cost people more money and they'll still park on the street."
Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia slammed the proposal and said it would only hit the hip pocket of home buyers.
"All that is going to do is drive up property prices," Mr Tarzia told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"At the same time it's not actually going to force people to put their cars into that garage, it's just going to cost more to build a home in the first place."
The SA Greens echoed those concerns and said the focus should be on improving public transport.
South Australian councils voted in favour of increasing garage sizes in new homes last year to better accommodate modern cars.
The proposed changes would mean garages for new dwellings would need to be at least 6-metres long and 3.5m wide. (ABC News: Eugene Boisvert)
Campbelltown City Council Mayor Jill Whittaker said it would help address growing population density in neighbourhoods.
"The future is still that we are going to have increasing infill, so we need to have a proper plan in place as to how you deal with the vehicles," Ms Whittaker said.
LGA SA President Heather Holmes-Ross said she was excited to work with the government to implement the new laws, should they pass.
"This is something we've been working towards for a long time, it has large scale support through councils across metro Adelaide," Dr Ross said.
"We understand the need for infill and that we need to diversify our housing stock.
"But, as the Premier said, when we're doing this, we have to do this in a way that residents can cope with.
"Car sizes have increased over the years, but garages haven't."