Unley Council approves $155 permit price hike for residents with no off-street parking

An Adelaide council has approved a steep parking permit hike for some residents who have to leave their cars on the street. Vote in our poll.

Parking permits across Unley will quadruple in price for some residents after councillors voted to overhaul parking fees.

Locals with no off-street parking will bear the brunt of the proposed changes, which will see the cost of a two-year, resident-only parking permit surge from $45 to $200 next year.

Unley Council will also bring in a new mobility access permit, which will see residents who require accessible on-street parking next to their property pay $100 annually for a dedicated space.

A council document said the change would encourage residents to use their private parking instead of leaving their cars on the street, as it prepared to phase out Resident Only Parking Permit zones across much of the council area.

“The low utilisation of these zones in high-demand parking areas has caused contention among neighbouring properties, making the use of public space appear inequitable,” according to the Unley Parking Management Plan, which was adopted in February.

The newly-approved parking permit fee schedule for Unley Council.

Council is expecting to net around $35,000 in additional revenue from the changes,

sparking backlash among some in the community.

Malvern resident Harriette Mariah, who currently pays for a residential parking permit, has called the increase “disgraceful”.

“I currently rent and the increase is not at all affordable for me, I have already experienced multiple increases in rent in line with the cost of living and I have had to tighten my budget in other areas as a result,” she said.

“I would’ve expected the council to understand that residents would need to park in front of their own properties, hence my shock and anger at being fined over $150 for doing so despite proving my address.”

Unley Council is making big changes to residential parking permits.

Under the Parking Management Plan, ‘Resident Only Parking Permit Zones’ adjacent to properties would be phased out except in areas where residents do not have off-street parking.

“One of the actions of the strategy is for council to review the existing permit fee structure in 2024/25,” a council spokesperson said.

“As part of the fee review, a benchmarking exercise was undertaken with other councils as the current fee … was set some time ago.

“Council considered a range of options and indicated a preference for $100/year for a permit.”

Other changes proposed include scrapping hourly and daily business parking permits in favour of an annual business parking permit at a cost of $1040 per year and increases to time limit exemption permits.