Unley Council to introduce paid on-street parking and increase residential permit fees as traffic congestion grows

Unley locals have slammed council’s proposed changes to parking on King William Rd in a bid to ease congestion.

Unley residents, shoppers and visitors will soon be forced to pay for on-street parking in a move some traders have labelled “terrible”.

Unley Council has announced a major overhaul of parking in an aim to better manage rising parking demands and congestion, particularly the retail areas along King William and Unley roads.

It said the move was “not focused or aimed at increasing income for council”, and would support local businesses by creating more carpark turnover.

Lucy Waterman, the manager and owner of Melt Hyde Park said parking on King William Rd was “already an issue” and making people pay for on-street parking was only going to make it harder on the community.

Paid parking is being introduced across Unley Council's retail area.

“Look, we really love the road itself and it’s brought business in a lot,” she said.

“However, people struggle with parking on the street so now if they’re going to start charging people … it’s already an issue as is and they’re going to make it harder.

“I don’t think it’s going to help (and) I don’t think it will make a difference to be honest.

“People already struggle to get into the carparks and there’s quite a bit of road rage. By then putting a fee on that, that’s not going to help.”

She added the council hadn’t notified traders of the impending change, but council said it had undertaken extensive community consultation.

Fillippo Ludovici, the manager and owner of Hello Neighbour, said forcing potential customers to pay for on-street parking would be “terrible”.

“Carparking is already so bad,” the 47-year-old said. “The reason people come here is because they can come, have a meal, and leave their cars for hours.

“Charging for anything is never good. It wouldn’t work.

“They’re just trying to fix up the problems that they made themselves when they didn’t bring in enough parking to begin with.”

The parking overhaul includes the introduction of pay-for-use parking in locations of high parking demand.

King William Road in Hyde Park in 2019. Picture: AAP / Morgan Sette

A spokesperson said Unley Council currently has only a “few pay-for-use parking locations within the city, most of which are located around tram/train stops”.

“One of the actions of the plan is for council to undertake a review of pay-for-use fees and charges by location or precinct and adjust fees to achieve an optimal occupancy rate,” they said.

Cars line up on Greenhill Road, Adelaide. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

“The plan adopted by council is a strategic approach to managing and optimising its on-street parking provisions.”

In a report published by the council, it said resident parking permit fees were also being reviewed, with council aiming to increase fees to encourage residents to use private parking.

Unley Council declined to comment when asked to clarify how much residential permit fees could increase by and which roads would be subject to paid parking.

“There were access and safety concerns arising from parked vehicles on narrow local streets, as well as across driveways and a perceived lack of compliance and enforcement,” the report said.

“Council recognises the importance of its on-street parking provisions and the ongoing varying demands.”

Unley Council will also expand smart-parking technology, which uses real-time information about available parking spaces – to optimise existing parking supply.

Existing parking ticket machines would be replaced with ‘smart’ parking meters, which would end physical tickets for vehicles.

Council are considering replacing current parking ticket machines with new smart parking meters. Picture: Peter Ristevski

“Smart parking offers the highest benefits in high-demand parking areas,” the report said.

“Smart parking meters have many benefits in comparison with existing ticket machines, including greater efficiency in operating and maintaining, a more compact meter design to minimise physical and visual clutter (and) improved customer experience, as physical tickets do not need to be placed within the vehicle.”

Unley Trader Associations were also contacted for comment.