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Locals Parking At Risk

25/7/2017

There have been many positive outcomes from the amalgamation of the old Manly Council into the new Northern Beaches Council but one aspect that locals have become concerned about is the protection of their parking rights.

While the introduction of the Northern Beaches parking sticker was seen as a way to unite the peninsula, and enables Manly residents to park for free at local beaches further up the coast, it has had the adverse effect of making parking at our local beach even more difficult, if not impossible.

Recently the new administration at the council moved to cancel the Manly Resident Card, an initiative introduced by Good for Manly to allow local residents to park for 3 hours free in the four council car parks in Manly’s CBD.

This was followed by the change, without notice, of the evening flat rate parking fee starting time from 7pm to 6pm. This sent locals into a spin. No longer could they pop into Coles on the way home for dinner supplies or to pick up takeaway nearby without being hit with an $11 parking fee. Community groups and local gyms were also adversely affected with customers now having to pay a $11 parking fee to attend a 6.30am class!

Candy Bingham and Good For Manly were quick to act, contacting the council, notifying the Manly Chamber of Commerce and preparing detailed submissions to council staff.

Good News!
To their credit the new Council responded quickly. They put on hold the cancellation of the Manly Resident Card, which is to undergo further review.

The Evening Flat Parking Fee was changed back to 7pm within weeks.

However these changes demonstrated an important point. Parking is one of the biggest issues in Manly. It is scarce. Manly CBD is our local shopping centre and the local businesses need our support to survive.

The council’s current approach of ‘harmonising’ everything across the Northern Beaches needs to be challenged. One size fits all does not necessarily fit all when you have areas with special needs (and millions of tourists!)

Good for Manly is currently working on a parking plan for Manly locals. We will welcome your feedback once it is completed.

14 Comments

Michelle

2/8/2017 07:12:56 am

Great work. Totally agree. It's nitnjust central Manoy that has parking issues. When council gives DA approval for 3 storey childcare centres and restaurants near Harris Farm without considering traffic and car parking then residents can't even park outside there house!! Look at the refrigerator business at the end of golf. Approved parking within the apartment complex is full of refrigerators whilst 4 vans park daily on the street!

Steve

9/10/2019 09:26:39 am

Totally agree. DA approval given and Council pockets a levy instead of developer building car spaces. Traffic flow will be a joke and dangerous courtesy of Council's over development.

Jill Healy-Quintard link

2/8/2017 07:16:16 am

Hi Candy, I totally support your efforts on parking in Manly. It has caused a big issue for locals. My husband rides a motorbike and was find $108 for parking in a small spot totally perfect for a bike, not dangerous to anyone or anything and after complaining was told that it was related to an outdated Manly Council parking ruling from 2002!! He still had to pay after making his statement that he did not take a full car space, leaving it for a much needed space for locals as well as visitors. This is a disgraceful lack of community awareness on the Council's part. Keep up the fight for the rights of locals. Thank you Candy.

Barbara bevan

2/8/2017 07:58:58 am

Well done I am surprised the chamber of commerce were not
Vocal about the parking I like many would have shopped and
Eaten out elsewhere thank you for letting me know

Suzanne Allison Cairns

2/8/2017 08:09:43 am

I totally agree with keeping the residents cards. It helps people in the immediate area utilise their high street, council have to realise that manly corso is a high street as well at a tourist attraction. We need to be able to use the facilities that are there with out a cost to us or businesses will suffer.

Megan

2/8/2017 09:02:10 am

Great work Candy. When one lives just outside of walking distance and is deciding where to go for meals, hair cuts, massages, nails etc, places with parking always win (mall, Stockland, Mosman, Seaforth etc). It would be wonderful to have a fair local parking policy.

Wing

2/8/2017 12:01:13 pm

You are absolutely right.
Cancelling the 3 hour parking for local residents will adversely affect the hip pocket of everyone especially when the cost of living is going up, electricity bill has gone up, but the wages of average person has not keep up with inflation ( except politicians and those in well paid jobs).

With the $11 parking fee, Manly residents will stop by in Neutral Bay or Stockland supermarket. This will affect the Supermarkets in Manly.

Land Rates - good for the treasury -, but this lead to the higher cost of housing, another increase expenditure on top of the large repayment young families have to repay and the higher electricity cost. This affects the pensioners who have limited income. Many will be forced to sell out and move out.

Gillian

2/8/2017 03:35:55 pm

Well done Candy: totally agree that the blanket parking in Manly for all pittwater residents needs to be challenged. Manly residents are not using parking as much up the northern beaches and Pittwater residents are obviously coming in droves to Manly: Weekends /evenings are a nightmare - no parking available at anytime! Can't we have a similar status to Palm Beach where only PB residents are allowed free parking - this could be the same for Manly residents:

9/10/2019 09:30:05 am

Absolutely - ridiculous that all the NB's given free access to Manly - Manly residents pay higher house prices to live in Manly and higher rates and then this 'uniting the peninsular' garbage came out - likely some Councillor has a unit in Manly with no offstreet parking so wants to devise a scheme to benfit themselves. The premise behind giving free access to all NB residents was a joke from day one and cost Manly Council/ NB Council millions of dollars day one. End the free access. Have registrations linked to addresses to stop selling permits and then see how things are.

Candy Bingham

9/10/2019 09:56:46 am

Actually it was the Administrator who introduced the Northern Beaches Parking sticker. Palm Beach and other areas have also suffered due to this. On the positive side, those of us in Manly can now park anywhere else in the peninsula for no charge including Freshwater, Collaroy, Dee Why, Palm Beach etc.

john G

2/8/2017 04:35:06 pm

Well done.!! We support the local restaurants and took advantage of the pre 7PM 2hour free parking. Had decided the 6pm made dinner "a bit early", even for us gerries., so Manly was out.
Very pleased we can continue .

10/8/2017 11:27:52 am

We need to revert back to the 'old' system (licence plate) for the Manly Area. (infrastructure is there) As you can see on eBay and Gumtree (now the new Northern Beaches Sticker has been sent) how many are turning up on these re-sell sites. I can guarantee people aren't buying them to park anywhere except Manly! This is a ridiculous system implementation and affects Manly Residents in their local area (which was not voted on by the residents!).
Why are there some restrictions i.e.;
Beach and reserve parking permits are NOT VALID at Rowland Reserve, Church Point Reserve, Woorak Reserve and Iluka Park, Palm Beach car park areas as they require a Special Permit.???

As you can see I am so annoyed by the one sticker parking scheme as are many Manly residents. Pushing to abolish this scheme and reverting back to licence plate recognition in Manly would be a winning platform to go to the election with.

9/10/2019 08:31:34 am

Candy
The proposed changes to the parking permits are retrospective and unfair. They will damage house values with offstreet parking and legal actions will commence. How is it fair to have a unit with no offstreet and 2 people get 2 permits while a 4 bed house with 2 offstreet parks and 4 adults get zero? Since a carpark is not a necessity such as a roof over ones head or bread on the table, why should our public funds subsidise some to get free street parking parking but not others?
Why do we allow child care centres to not adequately provide off street parking - because they pay a levy to Council rather than build car parking - why do we allow the whole NB’s to park for free at the beach in Manly? Council’s ‘pro-growth’ Strategy will kill the NB’s.

9/10/2019 09:25:02 am

It is hard to believe that Council is trying to invoke this change retrospectively and telling homeowners how they must use their own land. Why are we building new apartment blocks that may not have enough parking including visitor's car parks? Large 3 storey childcare centre by Harris Farm totally out of proportion. Why should any new unit that has no offstreet get a car permit unless the developer makes the spaces within the building? Why not just have a 'no permit' building and these units may then be more affordable instead of reducing existing homeowner's values that have offstreet parking and have been paying higher rates and higher house values and opening up Council to legal challenges for this disgraceful retrospective change?

Locals Parking At Risk

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