Randwick Council Votes Down Paid Beach Parking Despite Majority Support

Plans to introduce paid beach parking for visitors have been shelved after councillors voted against the proposal on Tuesday night, despite the council’s biggest-ever community consultation finding majority support for the scheme.

The proposal would have introduced paid parking at beaches including Coogee, Clovelly, Maroubra, Malabar, Little Bay and La Perouse, while exempting local residents through a permit system.

Instead, councillors resolved to reject the plan and investigate alternative parking management measures and funding options for beach infrastructure and services.

More than 12,000 people took part in the consultation between March and April, making it the largest community engagement exercise in Randwick City Council’s history. Council’s resident survey found 55 per cent of respondents supported the proposal, while a representative telephone survey found 64 per cent in favour.

Council staff said supporters believed the proposal would create a fairer funding model for beach services while improving parking turnover. But ppponents to the idea raised concerns about affordability, equal access and the original resident permit arrangements.

Following the consultation, council significantly scaled back the proposal. The revised plan reduced the number of proposed paid parking spaces from around 3,300 to about 1,400, removed parking meters from residential streets, proposed unlimited free permits for eligible Randwick households and retained some free parking near beaches. It was also expected to generate between $3 million and $3.6 million annually to help fund coastal infrastructure, beach maintenance and active transport projects.

Despite those changes, councillors voted against proceeding.

Liberal councillor Christie Hamilton, who successfully moved the motion to reject the proposal, told the ABC the council should focus on better enforcing existing timed parking restrictions instead.

“If they monitor those areas, and if they keep … the parking flowing through those areas, then the word will get out that you’ve got to get in and you’ve got to stick to the time that’s on the pole,” Cr Hamilton said.

The ABC also reported Cr Hamilton argued the council’s was in surplus every year, which means it didnt need to do this to  raise additional revenue.

Greens councillor Philipa Veitch also opposed the proposal, telling the ABC, “I think fundamentally people felt it was not in any way fair.”

According to council, Randwick’s beaches attract around nine million visits each year, with visitors from outside the local government area making up as much as 85 per cent of beach users during summer. The council says it spends about $23.5 million annually maintaining beaches, lifeguard services, public amenities and coastal infrastructure.

The vote brings the visitor pay parking proposal to an end, with councillors instead opting to pursue other ways of managing beach parking and funding the city’s coastal assets.

City Hub has contacted Randwick Council for comment.