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Free parking at some of Sydney’s busiest beaches will be a thing of the past under a council proposal to increase revenue – and it’s one rule for residents and another for visitors.
Randwick Council is seeking feedback on a proposal to charge visitors to park at all of its beaches, including Coogee, Maroubra, Clovelly, Little Bay and La Perouse. Other than Coogee, these beaches remain some of the few with free parking for visitors across Sydney.
Maintaining these beaches is coming at a cost to ratepayers of more than $23 million a year, Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said. The council predicts that introducing paid parking for visitors will generate about $6 million in revenue.
That revenue would go towards funding new beachside amenities, buildings, walkways and surf clubs.
“Right now, local ratepayers carry most of that cost, even though the bulk of beach users in summer are visitors. That’s not fair or sustainable in the long term,” Parker said.
Residents and ratepayers would be entitled to at least one free parking permit per household under the proposal.
The exact amount that visitors will be charged to park their cars has not been announced, but information provided to residents pointed to the $10-an-hour charge in Manly, and $11.60 at Bondi Beach.
Visitors to Randwick’s beaches are most commonly travelling from the inner city, inner west, nearby Bayside Council area and Canterbury-Bankstown, a council pamphlet on the proposed changes said.
Randwick would not be the first Sydney council to have one rule for visitors and another for residents. Waverley Council provides free permits for households with no off-street parking space, and paid permits for those with off-street parking.
Northern Beaches and Mosman councils also have permits that allow free parking at beaches for residents.
Sydney’s waterfront councils have a long and at times disastrous history of trying to protect beachfront parking for locals. In 2023, Woollahra Council was forced to change parking on streets near Camp Cove beach from a “residents only” system, which was deemed illegal.
The council tried to retain parking for residents only by putting in place a 15-minute limit for visitors, and unlimited parking for residents. That drew the ire of then-roads minister John Graham, who vowed to veto the decision, which he said signalled to the rest of Sydney that visitors were not welcome there.
The council has since changed streets around Camp Cove beach to one-hour parking for visitors.
Randwick Council is taking feedback on its paid parking proposal until April 15.
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