‘Have they built more streets?’: Adelaide traders are shocked at Adelaide City Council’s claims there is more parking than ever

The City of Adelaide has boldly claimed it has “more parking than ever before” and the CBD is a “parking oasis”, despite being accused of waging a war on cars.

A proposed concept image of Gouger St after its revitalisation project. Picture: Adelaide City Council

The City of Adelaide has boldly claimed it has “more parking than ever before”, despite some traders declaring the council has “a war on cars” with several proposed developments slashing parking spaces.

On Tuesday night, Deputy Mayor Phillip Martin asked several questions on notice about the number of car bays in the city compared to 2023.

Councillor Phillip Martin asked several questions about parking in Adelaide and North Adelaide at Tuesday’s meeting. Picture: Brenton Edwards

In response, the council’s administration said parking in the Adelaide CBD and nearby North Adelaide had increased street parking by 210 spaces since 2023, bringing the total on-street parking availability to 18,758.

However, this does not include proposed plans to reduce parking on Hutt St by up to 60 spaces, O’Connell St by about 50 — during peak hours — and Gouger St by 27 — not inclusive of “flexi zones” that are interchangeable parking or pedestrian spaces.

The removal of parking spaces, which is outlined in proposed revitalisation concept plans for Hutt, O’Connell and Gouger streets, could also occur on Hindley St and Light Square, though it’s unknown how many spaces would be lost.

Hutt St’s Ideal Shoe Repairs owner Richard Libralato said he couldn’t believe there were more than 18,000 on-street parks in Adelaide.

Richard Libralato from Ideal Shoe Repairs couldn’t believe there were more than 18,000 parking spaces in Adelaide. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“Have they built more streets, or have they made car parks smaller?” he said.

“Without building new streets, you can’t get much more parking in Adelaide.”

Mr Libralato said the council “probably do” have “a war on cars”.

“It’s nice to have Adelaide as a green city, but there’s plenty of ways around it, and eliminating all the cars around the CBD isn’t one of them,” he said.

“We’re not driving around the Vatican, the fumes aren’t going to destroy the buildings.

“I mean if you look overseas, everyone’s got underground carparks — we’ve got the Park Lands, you could put 20 storeys underground there, but then again it’s all money, it’s all infrastructure, and this is Adelaide.”

North Adelaide precinct president Paul Lam said he was also surprised to hear just how many more parking spaces there were.

A proposed concept image of O'Connell St after its revitalisation. Picture: Adelaide City Council

“I’m a bit surprised to hear it because in North Adelaide there is always issues for parking,” he said.

“I think there are concerns, especially on O’Connell St, by the introduction of bike lanes, because if there is a bike lane and parking restrictions, it would be very severe.”

Cr Martin said he asked the questions to quash the “controversy” dubbed the “war on cars”.

“There is a substantial increase of parking and it looks set to continue ... we’re in a parking oasis,” he said.

“We are looking at an increase in the next year of at least 1500 parking spaces.”

The 1500-plus spaces include 1300 included in the carpark at the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital site, 260 off-street spaces that have been relocated due to the Central Market redevelopment will be reinstated, and 116 spaces will be available within the 88 O’Connell St development.

An Adelaide City Council spokesman said the council would continue to provide parking options for residents and visitors, while also ensuring the CBD and North Adelaide were safe and accessible.

Originally published as ‘Have they built more streets?’: Adelaide traders are shocked at Adelaide City Council’s claims there is more parking than ever