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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-09 Daily Xml
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CAR PARKING

The Hon. S.G. WADE (15:06): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about car parking.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: I understand that it is not uncommon overseas for off-street car parking on a residential development to be collocated and charged separately. I am advised that collocated parking is not normally possible in South Australia, where development plans normally require car parking to be on the property.

Increasingly, as many households choose not to operate a vehicle, particularly in the proposed TOD developments, and some households, particularly in high or medium density developments, would prefer to house their vehicles separately, my question is: will the minister advise whether the government will review planning policies to support householders who choose to be less reliant on their car and design their home accordingly?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:07): The honourable member has raised an important issue. One of the objectives of the government's plans, as expressed in the 30 year plan, will be to move people away from car dependency, even though I think most people will continue to own a car. Hopefully, they will use their car less frequently, and they may have only one vehicle rather than two or more—certainly that has been the experience in the TODs we visited overseas and also those within Australia.

One of the instances where that can be supported is with the concept of 'go cars', and I am pleased to say the city council presently has three, I think, of these in operation around the city. They are very popular in cities such as San Francisco, for example, where these 'go cars' are available near all the major railway stations. You can simply use your credit card to open the car—the keys are in the car—and drive it away. There are a number of places where these cars can be left and, as soon as you lock the car, the charge for the use ends.

It is a way for people to have access to a vehicle without actually owning one themselves, and that system is becoming an increasingly successful operation in some of the major cities. However, the use depends very much on having good public transport because, the better public transport you have, the more successful schemes will be. Incidentally, there are cities—Paris, for example—that have a similar system with bicycles, where you use a bike to ride to set locations. For the most part, you can either walk or catch public transport. However, if you do need to go that little bit further, you can have access either to vehicles through these 'go car' schemes or to bicycles.

However, the honourable member is talking specifically about the link between car parking and the Development Act. The government is well aware that those provisions do need looking at, not just for the issue raised by the honourable member but also for the purpose of linking between a residence and a car park requirement and also the car parking you have within major cities.

It is interesting that in cities like Portland, for example, they have actually limited the number of car parks within the city itself to try to discourage vehicle use in their central business district. Of course, they have had 40 years of developing public transport and have now reached the stage where that is very successful and most people would not even dream of using a car because the alternatives are so much more successful.

A city like Adelaide that has been built up on car dependency cannot suddenly transition to that overnight, but we may be able to do so over some years. That is clearly one of the key features in the 30 year plan: that we should become a city that is less dependent on the motor vehicle not just because it is a good thing in terms of greenhouse gases and reducing dependency on fossil fuel but also because we are also likely to lead a much healthier lifestyle as people walk more and exercise more. Also, it will mean less congestion in the city and more usable spaces. It has a whole range of benefits, and that is certainly the sort of model that we would like for Adelaide.

I agree with the honourable member that car parking issues, both in terms of being linked as they are in the Development Act to housing requirements but also in their broader use, are absolutely essential to the future direction of this city, and certainly we are reviewing those issues as part of that 30 year plan. Obviously, I welcome any contributions. The deadline for consultation on the plan is the end of September, and I would certainly welcome any specific views. I hope we will get lots of views in relation to the details of that plan and how the sorts of issues raised by the honourable member can be best addressed.

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