Boats on trailers the latest victim of Sydney’s population squeeze and competition for parking spots
BOATS on trailers were once a harmless fixture parked outside Sydney homes, something every much a part of the city’s fabric. Now they’re a flashpoint for vigilante attacks and motorist angst.
NSW
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IT’S a scene which set Sydney apart from other cities around the world, up there with red roofs and backyards big enough for cricket — the family’s little runabout parked on the street waiting for a weekend on the water.
But parking your trailer boat in the street has become the target of more and more councils, the result of population pressures and changes to types and sizes of Sydney homes.
Randwick is the latest council set to impose severe restrictions on street parking of trailer boats.
It is considering the same rules which already apply in Hunters Hill, Northern Beaches, Waverley, Canada Bay and Inner West Council areas — move the boat every 28 days at least a block, or else.
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It hasn’t decided on penalties but the Northern Beaches Councils charges at least $465 to release an impounded boat and trailer, the fee going up by $40 a day.
Councils — using a 2016 change to State government law giving them greater powers to remove legally registered trailer boats from streets — argue that boat owners can easily find other ways to store their vessels.
Boat owners and angling groups, however, believe the new rules are punitive and unnecessary and pander to small minority intolerant of a Sydney tradition.
“If you can afford a boat you can afford to be considerate of your neighbours and ensure that you don’t park it in a built up area,” Randwick Liberal councillor Brendan Roberts said.
“The public street is not someone’s private parking area. There are some areas of Coogee, for instance, where there are trailers along the length of the street.
“It is yet another example of Sydney’s population squeeze.”
A big driver of the new rules is claims boats have been parked in streets near boat ramps by owners who live outside the council area, and that boats stay, unused, for months or years. In Annandale, one boat has been parked so long a tree is growing on it.
On the northern beaches the issue has got nasty — trailer tyres have been slashed and trailers tipped over.
The South Sydney Amateur Fishing Association has expressed dismay that Randwick council has rejected an option within the 2016 legislation for a permit system to allow owners to park their trailer boats near their home.
Ryan Bellingham, 39, said any change by council would challenge the happy home on a nearby street in Malabar he found for his boat.
“Because I’ve got permission from the neighbours I am not pissing people off, but that could change if I have to keep moving it every 28 days,” Mr Bellingham said.
Drummoyne Liberal MP John Sidoti, a vehement critic, wants to go so far as to make Canada Bay a no boat zone.
Inner West Council banned boats from some streets near the City West Link earlier this year.
The Boat Owners Association of NSW is pushing for the permit system.
“These are tinnies and small boats, most of which are not worth more than $15,000.” president Andrew McKinnon said.
“It is an elitist attitude to say if you can afford a boat you can afford to store it.”
He said moorings and marina berths were expensive, often with waiting lists into the years. There are about 204,000 boat trailers registered in NSW.