Row erupts over Randwick City Council plan
It has been touted as a fairer way to fund the maintenance of some of Sydney’s most popular beaches, but angry residents say the council’s plan to install paid parking meters at beaches in the eastern suburbs is unfair.
Randwick City Council is facing backlash over plans to install parking meters for visitors and give free permits to residents at beaches in Coogee, Clovelly, Maroubra, Malabar, Little Bay, La Perouse and Yarra Bay.
Clovelly resident Joe Hancock is among critics who believe the council is committed to introducing the meters despite a wave of opposition from many taxpayers and small business owners.
“It’s clear this is a cash grab, even though they say it’s not. Beaches should be free for everyone, not just for the privileged few,” Hancock said.
The beaches outside Coogee are among the few beaches in Sydney with free visitor parking. Parking spaces on the city’s beaches are increasingly under crowd pressure, especially during the peak summer season.
Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said there was strong community support for the meters and more than half of residents who responded to the council survey supported the changes. But opponents belittled the consultation process, saying it was flawed and did not fully reflect the views of residents.
In March, the council proposed charging fees to out-of-area beachgoers to help offset $23 million in annual beach maintenance costs, and the plan was open to community feedback by mid-April.
Hancock was concerned that the results of the survey, which was mailed online to more than 50,000 residents via mailbox, were “clearly designed to bias the outcome in favor of metered parking”.
The 11-question survey was accompanied by a glossy brochure that “sold the idea,” he said.
“It soon became clear to me that this is not a survey, this is a sales pitch,” he said.
Saying the survey asked leading questions and appeared vulnerable to duplicate entries, Hancock asked Sydney survey expert Chris Lonergan to review the survey material. Lonergan said consulting with the community was a “valuable process and the council should be applauded for it”.
“However, the methodology used in this survey means it should not be interpreted as representing the views of Randwick Borough Council residents,” Lonergan said.
Parker stated that in the survey of 12,000 participants, 54 percent of the participants supported the proposal, 41 percent were against it and 5 percent were neutral. He said many residents stopped him on the street to quietly voice their support for paid parking meters.
“There is a certain level of concern about expressing that support because there has been so much public debate, but we are confident the data reflects strong community support,” Parker said.
“Any talk about parking evokes strong feelings in the community, but it is reassuring to see the majority agree the proposal is fairer and will make parking easier.”
The council said a telephone survey of 600 residents showed 64 per cent supported it and 28 per cent opposed it. Parker said when visitors were asked about the proposal, their general feedback was that they would continue to visit with paid parking, but for much shorter periods of time.
The council had initially proposed giving one unpaid permit to each household, but said staff had prepared a new proposal that included more than one permit per household after receiving backlash.
The council said parking meters were being considered to generate an estimated $6 million a year in revenue from visitors to manage parking demand, increase turnover and contribute to maintenance costs. This will help fund new beach facilities, buildings, walkways and surf clubs.
Hancock said paid meters would add cost and stress to beachgoers year-round, when parking was only a serious problem for a few weeks during the peak summer season.
“We don’t want these at all; they’re ugly, they disrupt the natural flow of people going to the beach. We’re talking about seven public beaches and thousands of people and families.”
Coogee Courtyard cafe owner Dave Martin said the meters would hurt struggling small businesses.
“Paying to go to the beach is the last thing society needs.”
Clovelly’s Karon Lekeu said the “user pays” proposal was at odds with the council’s social inclusion and multiculturalism policy showcased in April, and stressed the need to ensure free and equitable access to public spaces for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
“Parking is going to be $10 to $20 an hour, and a low-income family can’t afford that and they certainly can’t risk getting a parking ticket.
“Randwick is a very affluent LGA. I think we’re really starting to make a distinction between the haves and the have-nots. It’s a nice feeling to marginalize people and say, ‘You’re not one of us’.”
Richard Walsh, president of the South Maroubra Chamber of Commerce, said a petition he left at the pharmacy counter opposing the proposal garnered 1,200 signatures within a few weeks.
“These people think that once you put these machines in you’ll have utopia, you can just get one park; it’s delusional to think that means there will be more than one empty space on a sunny weekend in January.”
Randwick would not be the first Sydney council to impose different rules for visitors and different rules for residents. Waverley Council provides free permits to households without off-street parking and paid permits to those with off-street parking.
Casual visitors without a permit pay up to $10 an hour to park at Manly or Balmoral beaches.
Randwick had previously tried to install paid parking meters on its beaches but failed.
The council abandoned similar plans in 2005 following a sustained campaign by hundreds of residents who gathered on Coogee Beach and used the word “no” to protest the proposal.
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Jessica McSweeney is a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald covering state politics and city affairs.Connect via email.
