Vehicle Parking and Urban Renewal Bill
I rise today to speak in support of the Statutes Amendment (Vehicle Parking and Urban Renewal) Bill 2025. This Bill is a practical response to a problem that has been raised with me over and over by residents across my electorate of Dunstan: our streets are becoming clogged with parked cars, creating frustration, blocking access for service vehicles, and eroding the character and liveability of our suburbs.
Ever since I began knocking on doors in our community five years ago, and even more recently at street corner meetings and through contact with my office, people tell me about the cars lining both sides of the typically narrow streets, leaving no room for rubbish trucks or ambulances to pass, and no space for friends, family, trades or home-care workers to park when visiting.
In suburbs like Payneham, St Morris and Norwood I have on multiple occasions seen for myself how precarious it can be when an emergency vehicle is forced to crawl down a street because cars are parked bumper to bumper on either side.
A key contributor is that garages in many homes are too small for today’s vehicles. Yes people have more cars – our children are living at home for longer – both parents usually work – but nine of Australia’s ten top-selling cars these days are SUVs or dual cab utes, yet many garages were designed decades ago for smaller sedans and hatchbacks. Instead of accommodating vehicles, garages are increasingly used as storage, gyms or extra bedrooms, pushing more cars onto the street. As we move toward denser housing, we must tackle these issues head on to preserve what we love about our streets and our communities.
This Bill provides a balanced solution. It amends the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 to insert section 127A, establishing mandatory vehicle parking conditions for designated development. New dwellings within Greater Adelaide must provide at least one space where there is a single bedroom and at least two spaces where there are two or more bedrooms.
Those spaces must meet new minimum dimensions of 3.5 metres by six metres, and garage doors must be at least three metres wide. These figures reflect the reality that nine of the ten best selling cars in Australia are SUVs or dual cab utes and not the small sedans for which many existing garages were designed.
The Bill also introduces section 200A, establishing a Vehicle Parking Fund. Where on-site provision is impracticable, developers may contribute to the fund instead. The fund will be used to create or improve public parking, maintain bicycle infrastructure and upgrade related amenities such as lighting, line marking and pedestrian links. The legislation is not one size fits all. Certain classes of housing, including retirement facilities, residential parks, co-located ageing in place dwellings, workers’ accommodation and housing in the CBD, will have reduced or no minimum parking requirement. Strategic infill sites near high frequency public transport will also have reduced obligations, recognising that private car ownership is often lower in those locations, and where it isn’t it is something we ought to be encourageing.
Another important element is the Bill’s connection with the Urban Renewal Act 1995. It streamlines the way parking can be planned across an entire precinct rather than lot by lot. This allows a master planned community to provide shared solutions such as underground parking stations or landscaped communal areas with integrated bays, while still meeting overall supply targets. It also gives the Treasurer, or the responsible Minister with the Treasurer’s approval, the ability to grant concessions or vary charges on land inside a precinct, providing flexibility for innovative developments.
The Government released a draft scheme and undertook an intensive consultation over two weeks earlier this year. Councils, developers, industry bodies and residents gave detailed feedback. Their advice helped refine dimensions, staging and exemptions, and ensured construction costs remain modest with no loss of housing yield. I commend the Local Government Association, the Property Council, the Master Builders, the Urban Development Institute, and the many individual builders and home owners who made submissions. The Bill also sits alongside forthcoming amendments to the Planning and Design Code, for example removing outdated façade requirements that forced wider house frontages, and adjusting rules about garage door widths, to keep housing affordable while delivering functional parking.
To allow a smooth transition, the vehicle parking provisions will commence twelve months after the Bill passes Parliament, giving the development sector time to adjust and for the Code amendments to be finalised. In greenfield areas the start date is deferred until 2028, aligning with SA Water’s next regulatory cycle and preventing unnecessary cost imposts.
The benefits of this Bill will be tangible. Streets will be safer because sightlines will improve and emergency vehicles will be able to pass unhindered. Rubbish and recycling collections will operate efficiently. Friends and family visiting relatives will find somewhere to park, and home care providers, cleaners and contractors will reach clients without risking fines or lengthy walks carrying equipment. The appearance of our streets will improve as fewer cars sprawl across verges and footpaths. Importantly, we will protect the principle that increased housing supply should not erode the qualities people value in their communities: greenery, walkability, and the sense of order and safety that comes when vehicles are housed appropriately.
State legislation alone cannot solve every aspect of parking. Local councils retain the vital role of managing on street parking, issuing permits, and enforcing time limits or clearways. After this Bill is enacted, the Minister will write to metropolitan mayors and CEOs encouraging complementary strategies so that local policies reinforce state standards rather than undermine them.
This Bill is part of a broader commitment by the Malinauskas Government to provide more homes while protecting neighbourhood character. We cannot meet housing demand by freezing development, nor can we allow uncontrolled spill over parking to compromise safety and liveability. By insisting that garages are big enough for the cars we actually drive, and by creating mechanisms to fund public parking where needed, we are tackling the issue with common sense. I particularly want to acknowledge residents who shared their experiences: the Norwood family whose ambulance was delayed because a narrow street was blocked by parked vehicles; the Firle tradie – a woman who routinely carries heavy ladders halfway down a streets to reach a client’s house; and the Trinity Gardens grandparents who told me how they invite friends around but there is often spaces for visitors outside their town house. Their stories underline why this Bill matters.
By refusing to support sensible measures to ensure garages are built to fit the cars people actually drive, the Opposition is effectively endorsing a future of choked residential streets and rising frustration for residents. Their position would leave neighbourhoods without the tools to manage parking pressure as density increases, forcing families, carers and emergency services to navigate ever-narrower corridors of parked vehicles. It would push the cost of solutions onto councils and ratepayers, or require expensive off-site parking facilities that ultimately add to the price of housing. In short, they are choosing to ignore a practical fix in favour of a policy vacuum that will leave our communities paying the price in safety, amenity and affordability, and demonstrating once again that they certainly haven’t listened to our community, because if they had they would know that this solution has been called for time and again by many – certainly many in my community of Dunstan.
The Statutes Amendment (Vehicle Parking and Urban Renewal) Bill 2025 is thoughtful, evidence based legislation. It respects the need for more housing, safeguards affordability, and ensures that cars are stored actually more safely, in appropriate, practical spaces rather than congesting our streets. It integrates planning and urban renewal tools, provides a funding mechanism for public infrastructure, and reflects the realities of modern vehicle ownership. It also represents the kind of collaboration that produces good law: consultation with residents, councils, planners, builders and researchers, attention to housing supply, and an unwavering focus on community amenity.
I commend the Bill to the House and encourage all members to support its passage so that we can build the homes our state needs while keeping our streets safe, accessible and pleasant for everyone.