Legislative Council Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Bills Private Parking Areas (Shopping Centre Parking Areas) Amendment Bill Private Parking Areas (Shopping Centre Parking Areas) Amendment Bill Private Parking Areas (Shopping Centre Parking Areas) Amendment Bill Introduction and First Reading Introduction and First Reading Received from the House of Assembly and read a first time. Second Reading Second Reading The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN Legislative Council Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development Minister for Forest Industries The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (18:14): I move: That this bill be now read a second time. I seek leave to incorporate the second reading explanation and explanation of clauses in Hansard without my reading them. Leave granted. Today I am pleased to introduce the Private Parking Areas (Shopping Centre Parking Areas) Amendment Bill 2022, which amends the Private Parking Areas Act 1986 to prevent paid parking at shopping centres with a gross lettable area of 34,000 square metres or more. The introduction of this Bill not only meets this State Government's election commitment to introduce a Bill into Parliament to prevent paid parking at Tea Tree Plaza shopping centre, but it also seeks to assist both consumers and shopping centre workers more broadly across all of South Australia. The Private Parking Areas Act 1986 as it stands currently provides for control to be placed on parking areas (time limits, disabled car parking spaces, etc.), as well as for breaches of those controls to be prosecuted as a summary offence. Amending this Act is therefore considered the most appropriate mechanism to prohibit paid parking at shopping centres. As it is currently drafted, the Bill provides that 'the owner of a regulated shopping centre parking area must not, without the approval of the chief executive officer of the council for the area in which the regulated shopping centre parking area is situated, charge a person a fee for the parking of a vehicle in the regulated shopping centre parking area.' Before the chief executive officer grants an approval, the council must consult with its local community and subsequently pass a resolution recommending that the approval be granted. A regulated shopping centre parking area is defined as, 'an area provided on land by the owner for the parking of vehicles used by persons frequenting a major retail shopping centre', with major retail shopping centre meaning 'a retail shopping centre where the total of the lettable areas of all the retail shops (whether leased or available for lease) in the retail shopping centre is 34,000 square metres or more, but does not include a retail shopping centre within the Adelaide CBD'. The benchmark for size of a major retail shopping centre for where the prohibition of paid parking will apply has been set to 34,000 square metres. This benchmark will capture the majority of shopping centres that are zoned Urban Activity Centre. The Bill does not apply to a major retail shopping centre located within the Adelaide CBD to prevent businesses that provide car parking as their core business (UPark, Wilson etc) from being captured by the new provisions for providing parking for persons frequenting major retail shopping centres within the Adelaide CBD, such as the Myer Centre. The definition of a regulated shopping centre parking area may capture owners of land who are not the owner of the major retail shopping centre (such as smaller shops). This is required in an attempt to prevent owners from restructuring their organisation to circumvent the prohibition. Should this present an issue, it is envisaged that an approval could be issued by the chief executive officer of the relevant local council that allows for fees to be charged. I commend the Bill to the Council. Explanation Explanation of Clauses Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title 2—Commencement These clauses are formal. Part 2—Amendment of Private Parking Areas Act 1986 3—Amendment of section 4—Interpretation This clause inserts certain definitions into section 4 of the principal Act for the purposes of the measure and amends existing definitions to include references to regulated shopping centre parking areas. 4—Insertion of section 13 This clause inserts new section 13: 13—Regulated shopping centre parking areas This section prohibits the owner of a regulated shopping centre parking area (being an area provided for the parking of vehicles used by persons frequenting a major retail shopping centre) from charging a fee for the parking of a vehicle in such an area without the approval of the chief executive officer of the relevant council. The chief executive officer may not grant an approval unless the council has recommended the granting of the approval by resolution. Before passing a resolution, the council is required to consult with the community of the council on whether it is in the community interest for the proposed resolution to be passed. Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Curran.