South Australia proposes law for bigger garages to stop street parking being ‘overrun’ with SUVs
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Plan sparks debate about use of urban space, housing costs and investment in public transport amid climate crisis. South Australia is proposing laws that will force developers to build bigger garages in new homes, in an effort to stop cars too big for standard off-street parking from crowding suburban streets.
Under the plan, which is still in the consultation process, residential car park sizes will have to be half a metre wider and 60cm longer to accommodate big cars and dual-cab utes. The size of a single car park, under the proposed changes, would be 3.5m wide and 6m long.
The state premier, Peter Malinauskas, said people were “sick of seeing their suburbs being overrrun by cars often double-parked on otherwise quiet streets” because vehicles could not fit in current garages. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email.
He also announced on Monday that new one-bedroom homes must have at least one parking space, and homes with two or more bedrooms must have at least two. Malinauskas said it was “ridiculous that many modern garages are not built big enough to fit the most popular cars sold in our country, from dual-cab utes right down to SUVs”.
“We’re going to fix it – by bringing our planning laws up to date.”. While there would be some exemptions, developers generally who did not meet the criteria would have to pay up to $45,000 into a fund that would go towards public parking and bike parking.
