Developers can slash carparks by half in 11 inner Brisbane suburbs under new rules

The number of carparks developers have to provide in new unit towers in 11 inner-Brisbane suburbs is set to be slashed in half, with changes also likely to be coming to 15 others suburbs. SEE THE LIST

The number of carparks developers have to provide for new high-density housing projects could be slashed in 15 more inner-city suburbs under changes set to be passed by council on Tuesday.

It is a major increase on the four suburbs originally announced by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in May last year — Fortitude Valley, Kangaroo Point, Milton and Newstead.

The state government must sign off on the updated rules, which Mr Schrinner claimed would reduce costs for developers and therefore lead to lower prices for new housing.

“It was clear when we consulted the community that car ownership in inner-city areas is reducing and current parking requirements were adding huge costs to the construction of new apartment buildings,’’ he said.

Council decided to go ahead with changes in the greatly expanded area despite receiving only 87 submissions and undertaking only limited public advertising of the plan.

Current boundaries for new parking rules in core (red) and frame (yellow) areas.

The current minimum parking standards in high-density areas state that there must be one car space for a one-bed dwelling and two spaces for dwellings with two to three bedrooms.

There must also be one visitor carpark per four dwellings.

The new rules in the 11 so-called “core’’ suburbs would halve that number of car spaces. There also needed to be only one visitor space per 20 dwellings.

“Core’’ suburbs will now include parts of: Bowen Hills; Fortitude Valley; Highgate Hill; Kangaroo Point; Milton; Newstead; Spring Hill; South Brisbane; Teneriffe; West End; and Woolloongabba.

The new rules in the 15 so-called “city frame’’ areas would include: a slight reduction to a minimum of 0.9 car spaces per one-bed dwelling; a minimum of 1.1 spaces per two-bed dwelling; a minimum of 1.3 spaces for three or more bedrooms.

There must also be one visitor space for about seven dwellings.

The “city frame’’ areas now include parts of: Albion; Auchenflower; Bowen Hills; Dutton Park; East Brisbane; Hamilton; Herston; Highgate Hill; Kangaroo Point; Milton; New Farm; Teneriffe; Toowong; West End; and Woolloongabba.

Proposed boundaries for new parking rules in core (red) and frame (yellow) areas.

Street parking in many of those suburbs was already very scarce, partly due to competition from commuters driving from outer suburbs.

Mr Schrinner said “it was clear when we consulted the community’’ that car ownership in inner-city areas had declined.

“Current parking requirements are adding huge costs to the construction of new apartment buildings,’’ he said.

“Car parking can be a prohibitively expensive addition to the cost of constructing new apartment buildings.

“That’s why we’re reducing car park requirements in more well-connected areas to help deliver more affordable homes in the right places, sooner.’’

The 2021 Census found 39 per cent of Brisbane properties had only one car for the occupants, with just over half of properties having two or more vehicles.

Vehicle ownership in many of the affected suburbs was significantly lower.

But at the time the initial changes were announced last May some planning experts predicted developers would pocket the savings, estimated by council at up to $100,000 per apartment.

Originally published as Developers can slash carparks by half in 11 inner Brisbane suburbs under new rules