Car sharing to grow in Waverley

Waverley Council has registered its support for a car sharing policy in the electorate, but it is set to include costs imposed on parking spaces for car share.

The motion stated parking for car sharing must occur in designated spaces. To apply for those spaces there is set to be a $200 application fee. For an ordinary vehicle, a car sharing parking spot in a residential area will cost $173 per year, while for or an electric vehicle spots will cost $29.

The policy was unanimously supported across both sides of Council. Mayor Sally Betts said the policy would help address the ongoing parking issues in Waverley.

“Car sharing is one element of a multifaceted approach we will take to try to deal with parking problems in Waverley,” she said.

Labor Councillor Ingrid Strewe said her party supports the policy for Waverley and called for an increase in car sharing in areas tainted by parking shortages.

“We already have many car share pods around Waverley that I have supported,” Ms Strewe said. “We need to continue the consultation with locals on new pods.”

But the success of the policy is yet to be seen.

Former NSW Member for Coogee and Waverley Councillor for 21 years, Paul Pearce said the policy relies on locals embracing it. Mr Pearce said if locals reduce the number of cars in their households and embrace car sharing, there will be less cars and parking will be easier.

“The key thing is that car ownership lowers,” he said. “If people keep their cars and use car sharing, parking will become worse because there will be more cars.”

Mr Pearce also cautioned Waverley Council should continue working on a range of other policies.

“Car sharing is not the magic wand,” he said. He suggested Council encourage locals to use garages and carports for car parking and not the street.
He also suggested tighter limitations on allocation of spaces.

Waverley Council currently has 61 car spaces designated for car sharing. The City of Sydney Council currently has 398 spaces allocated to car sharing and is working well, according to experts.

Executive Manager of City Plan, Andrew Thomas said car sharing is making city living more convenient and reducing congestion.

“Car sharing is going from strength to strength and it is part of a long-term strategy to reduce congestion in the city,” he said.