Page 182 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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Mrs Kikkert for the motion today pertaining to parking in new suburbs with medium-density and multi-unit developments, including Lawson.
The government has on many different occasions spoken to its vision for Canberra as a sustainable, competitive, and equitable city that is a great place to live not just today but for the community of tomorrow. As Minister for Planning and Land Management, I recognise that getting the balance of parking for new residential developments right is important. I am committed to making sure that convenient transport and parking options are provided for residents and their visitors, in consideration of a range of other factors that make our city liveable and sustainable as well.
Mrs Kikkert quite rightly acknowledges that getting parking provision right is critical for the convenience of the residents and their visitors now and into the future. This is clearly not a task that this government takes lightly. We consider this in a broader transport and land use planning context and in the context of long-term sustainability for Canberra.
In the past, residents of Canberra’s many low-density residential suburbs have had a plentiful supply of parking, with two or more parking spaces provided per house, plus ample free on-street parking. In effect, many suburban homes could accommodate several vehicles per resident. However, as the city grows and more of the Canberra community choose medium and high-density living and other options for travel are available, the same provision of parking per residence is no longer feasible.
On a very practical level, the cost of providing basement or structured parking is many times that of providing a surface car parking space. To provide three or four basement or structured car parking spaces per apartment would substantially increase the cost of constructing housing, and this in turn would affect housing affordability. This would disadvantage many households, including those that do not own or cannot afford to own multiple vehicles, and that is simply not fair.
As an alternative to costly basement or structured parking, three or four parking spaces per apartment could be provided at ground level. However, there is simply not the land available in medium-density suburbs. To do this would result in very poor urban design and land efficiency outcomes, as I am sure you would all agree.
In our endeavours to provide housing choice, consideration must be given to options with space for households to park three or four vehicles in some cases. Indeed, there are many options in Canberra for households with three or four cars in certain areas. However, this is not something that can be provided for every medium-density or multi-unit development in Canberra.
This is why my government aims to strike a balance in the provision of parking in new suburbs. Recognising that there are many households with one to two vehicles outside of major centres, the Territory Plan requires specific minimum parking to be provided in medium-density and apartment developments. However, as the Territory Plan’s parking provision requirements are minimum, they do not restrict a developer from delivering above these requirements where there is a demand for more parking. Many houses in Canberra, including in new suburbs, do offer three or four on-site
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