Make garages bigger to fix street congestion, Local Government Association SA says

SA councils have endorsed making garages in new homes bigger for the first time since 1993, in a bid to tackle street parking woes.

New South Australian houses are one step closer to having bigger garages, after a majority of councils threw their weight behind changes to the Planning and Design Code.

Campbelltown Council mayor Jill Whittaker publicly voiced her support for the idea last week, to address the growing size of newer car models and too many vehicles being parked on the street.

At its annual general meeting on Friday, members of the Local Government Association SA agreed to lobby planning authorities so that carports and garages in new homes must measure at least 6m in length and 3.5m in width.

Campbelltown mayor Jill Whittaker said undersized garages meant more people were parking on the street, causing unnecessary congestion. Picture: Emma Brasier

Currently, the minimum requirement is 5.4m by 3m.

LGA SA chief executive Clinton Jury said councils would seek to work with the State Planning Commissioner and PlanSA to enshrine the changes in law.

“Many of our suburbs were built when larger blocks were prominent, and as we see block sizes reduce to build more houses, there’s been an increase in parked cars on residential streets,” Mr Jury said.

“We’re also living at a time when cars are bigger, there’s more SUVs on our roads.

“And while councils consider parking in planning assessments, they’re guided by state legislation.”

A new development in Adelaide’s west with single car garages, forcing many motorists to park on the street. Picture: Supplied

At the meeting, the 68 councils who form the association also agreed that waste storage areas and laundry-kitchen spaces should be excluded from the minimum garage size.

Separately, they also supported capping ancillary accommodations, such as granny flats, at one per allotment and tying the amount of open space on a property to a proportion of its size.

Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion said councils were responsible for managing on-street parking.

“Local government has the responsibility to deal with on-street parking and they should use their extensive powers to manage increased congestion,” Mr Champion said.

Speaking to The Advertiser last week, Ms Whittaker said the problem of street parking was worst in areas “where infill is occurring at a rapid rate”.

“The (garage) standards set in 1993 are inadequate because cars are becoming bigger and garages are not,” Ms Whittaker said.

“What it means is that people are having to park very valuable cars on the street, because they can’t park them in the garage, get out and grab their shopping because it’s too tight.

“It’s an issue happening everywhere, but the people of Campbelltown have been used to having spacious streets and are now having to learn a completely different way of driving so they can get through.”

In early November, LGA SA members voted in Mitcham mayor Heather Holmes-Ross as the association’s new president, replacing Kimba mayor Dean Johnson.

Ms Holmes-Ross will be in the role for two years and said she was focused on “strengthening the long-term financial, environmental and social sustainability of councils through advocacy, promotion and facilitation”.

Originally published as Make garages bigger to fix street congestion, Local Government Association SA says