Removing cars from our cities

We do Development Objections for developments all the time and are very good at what we do… Our Principal Planner has been dubbed the “Objection King”. One of the most common complaints people have with new high density developments are in regards to the provision of car parking for the site and the impact the development will have on the larger traffic network of the area.

We also listen to your concerns on Facebook about new developments and the heavy impact on the road network and the lack of road infrastructure to support development. 

Firstly, we are 100% with you on these objection points. There is nothing worse than coming home from work and pulling into the driveway of your unit block and seeing that all the public parking spaces are taken… This means you now need to find a spot on the road… You know that the cold beer sitting in your fridge is now even longer away as you try and prowl the streets searching desperately for a car parking space.

Eventually you find a space and you begin the ten minute walk to your unit. You really hope that the beer you think is in the fridge is actually there because there is no way you are going to go back out again.

A lot of us who have lived in Sydney knows exactly how that feels… but ask yourself this…. 

If the public transport system was regular and ran on time….would you need to drive.

What if we could tell you that Australia is behind the times in regards to transport. Our cities are heavily reliant on personal transport with public transport or bicycles being a mere after-thought. Our individual car ownership rates are some of the highest in the world with people below the poverty line owning and driving motor vehicles when they can barely feed themselves.

The following is an article taken from theconversation.com and provides some thought provoking ideas about personal motor vehicles.

What can our cities do about sprawl, congestion and pollution? Tip: scrap car parking

While car parking was a non-negotiable amenity for baby boomers, it is an eyesore to millennials and the up-and-coming iGen. Newer generations want more city and fewer cars. Globally, scrapping car parking is the latest trend in urban planning.

Between 2010 and 2015, Philadelphia removed 3,000 off-street parking spaces from its city centre. Copenhagen is following the same path. Zurich has implemented a city-wide cap to llimit parking spaces to 1990s levels.

Amsterdam has announced it will remove parking spaces at a rate of 1,500 a year. The city’s 2025 goal is to eliminate more than 11,000 parking spaces from its streets to make space for cycling.

San Francisco and New York have adopted the concept of “parklets”. These are mini parks or outdoor café seating areas that temporarily replace a few parking spots during low-demand periods.

 

The theory is that as the amount of parking decreases, the appeal of driving gives way to more environmentally friendly transport modes such as walking, cycling, ride-hailing, car pooling and public transport.

Some evidence suggests reducing or capping parking pays off. In cities that have implemented these measures, driving has declined and public transport use has increased.

What’s happening in Australia?

Among the largest Australian cities, Brisbane seems to be going backwards. The Courier Mail recently published a story stating that:

Suburban streets in two Brisbane suburbs have become all-day car parks as the new residents of apartments are forced to resort to on-street parking.

In response to such sentiments, Brisbane City Council proposes to increase the number of parking spaces required for future apartment buildings across the middle and outer suburbs. Parking increases have been framed as adding to the quality of life and safety of Brisbane suburbs.

Unfortunately, Brisbane does not track the existing supply of residential parking. This lack of clarity has created an imbalance of parking supply and provides opportunities for a sharing economy of parking. Operators such as Parkhound and KERB enable residents to lease their unused parking while their neighbours exhaust the public supply of on-street parking.

Meanwhile, Sydney has officially declared a “climate emergency”, following the lead of global cities including New York, London (and then all of the UK), Auckland and Vancouver(followed by Canada). While applauded by environmentalists, this declaration does not come with a firm commitment to reduce driving or parking.

 

Similarly, in Melbourne, outside the CBD – where there are plans to reduce parking – there is plenty of free, and largely unmanaged, on-street parking. Residents typically believe they are entitled to this parking space.

Clearly, Australian cities are stuck in the old-fashioned “predict and provide” model of parking supply. This model relies on the idea that there will always be enough parking if every site provides spaces for all residents, staff, customers and visitors during peak demand periods.

While this approach might have been suitable in the postwar period, it is unworkable for today’s growing, congested and warming cities. The challenge for planners is how to accommodate increasing numbers of urban residents within a reasonable distance from work and amenities. Cities are running out of space for cars – be they moving or parked.

Is there a better way?

Certainly. Some cities have begun to set maximum parking standards. In other words, the cities put an upper limit on how many car parks can be provided for a given project. Sometimes these complement minimum parking requirements; in other cases the latter are eliminated.

Selling parking spaces separately from housing units, referred to as “unbundling”, is another policy that’s becoming popular. It ensures the true cost of car storage is transparent rather than hidden. And it means car-free or one-car households don’t have to pay for parking they don’t need.

Some developers are providing car-sharing spaces in new construction, instead of individual car parks.

Some employers offer a parking “cash out” option – employees receive a payment in lieu of a parking space. Those employers that continue to offer parking charge fees daily rather than monthly to avoid the “sunk cost fallacy” – having paid for parking, employees want to get their money’s worth.

Other useful (but hardly new) planning concepts include the “30-minute city” and “transit-oriented development”. These approaches help reduce the need for driving and parking by concentrating people and land uses around public transport stops and corridors.

Will reducing spaces lead to parking shortages?

People are often concerned that if parking is reduced or capped, this will create a parking shortage. This can be avoided if parking is treated as a key component of the urban transport system and managed in coordination with other elements.

Australian cities need to prepare comprehensive parking strategies at the metropolitan level. These strategies must be integrated with general transport and land use plans. Unfortunately, this is often difficult to achieve because state governments are typically responsible for planning and building the transport system while local governments are responsible for parking.

The impacts of parking reductions on urban citizens need to be offset by providing a higher quality and quantity of public and active transport. This requires substantial investments in public and active transport.

Finally, no parking should be free. Revenues from parking fees should be returned to local communities in the form of improved public amenities.

Conclusion from Outlook Planning and Development

Parking and traffic will still be a major issue with development applications for years to come as the State and Federal Governments are not forcing the reduction of cars into CBD areas. It is noted that the inclusion of the new light rail in Sydney through George Street has meant that traffic along these streets have been removed but the vehicles are still entering and exiting the city each day.

A better approach would be to completely remove personal vehicles from entering the Sydney CBD area and providing sufficient car parking facilities in the fringe suburbs. This would force workers within the CBD to utilise alternate measures of transport instead of their personal vehicle. Ultimately this is a better outcome but it does require a public transport system that works effectively and that can meet the demand on the city. 

The Sydney public transport system, while improving with new initiatives such as the Sydney Metro and the Light Rail, still has a long way to come but it is something that could come to fruition with some long term planning and substantial infrastructure investment.

Helpful Content

Property Development Spotlight: Beresfield

Beresfield is one of the biggest hot spots within the Newcastle area with investors and first home buyers flocking to the area to score great prices for great blocks of land. We look at what to look for for development within the area and how to maximise on your investments including dual occupancies and subdivisions.

Read More »

Thornton Developments Booming

Thornton and Chisholm has become a booming area for investors and first home buyers wanting to leave Sydney and head towards the Hunter Valley. The greater Maitland area is a booming area with plenty of land available for developers.

Read More »

What can I build without Council Approval?

We explain what types of development you can do without any Council approval for everyone doing their home renovations. Read all about exempt development and what you can build this weekend after a trip to Bunnings to get your DIY tools.

Read More »

Complying Development Certificates

Want to build a house or renovate but don’t want the hassle of a development application. You might be able to get approval through a private certifier. We take some time to explain what a complying development is and the steps you need to take to obtain a CDC through a private certifier.

Read More »

Guide to Heritage Impact Statements

Heritage Impact Statements are essential for any development involving a heritage item or heritage conservation area. We go into some of the basics of what makes up a heritage impact statement and who should be preparing them for your development.

Read More »

New Generation Boarding Houses

New generation boarding houses have a lot of negativity at the moment with developers obtaining approvals for large scale boarding house developments. So what exactly is a new generation boarding house?

Read More »

Northern Beaches Dual Occupancy for beginners

Northern Beaches Town Planners explain Dual occupancy facts on the Northern Beaches including Pittwater, Warringah and Manly. We provide some information on dual occupancy developments on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. Where you should be looking and what you should be considering.

Read More »

Reducing Car Parking in CBDs

We explore the theory that as the amount of parking decreases, the appeal of driving gives way to more environmentally friendly transport modes such as walking, cycling, ride-hailing, car pooling and public transport.

Some evidence suggests reducing or capping parking pays off. In cities that have implemented these measures, driving has declined and public transport use has increased.

Read More »

SFS Stadium Redevelopment seeks new construction company

The redevelopment of the Sydney Football Stadium has been full of controversy with a massive public backlash to the development.

The development has been subject to a lot of public debate with questions as to why the NSW Government are demolishing a functioning stadium instead of upgrading the stadium at a fraction of the cost.

Read More »

Let’s work together

Have a chat with one of our planners today!