Larger garages planned in bid to curb on-street parking congestion in SA

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The South Australian government will introduce legislation to make garages bigger to keep cars off suburban streets. While it's been backed by some residents, industry bodies are concerned it'll price buyers out of an already tough housing market.

Transcript

00:00Each day, Sally McRae struggles to park her car as her street is full.

00:07People actually fight for room in this street to get a park.

00:11She has a garage, but it's too small.

00:14Because of my disability, I don't have the room to open my door to get out.

00:20The South Australian Government wants to make garages bigger and move cars off streets.

00:26There's no point in having garages in homes where people can't drive their car into the

00:30garage or can't open the door in it.

00:33Properties with one bedroom would require one garage space, while those with two or

00:38more would have to have at least two off-street vehicle spaces.

00:42Garage sizes will grow by about half a metre in length and width to 3.5 metres by 6 metres,

00:48with garage doors at least 3 metres wide.

00:51But there could be exceptions in places like the CBD or high-density suburban developments

00:56where there's public transport routes.

00:58To be excluded, developers would need to pay an offset fee of $45,000 in the CBD, $35,000

01:04in metropolitan Adelaide and $25,000 in Greater Adelaide, with the money to be invested in

01:10a vehicle parking fund.

01:12But there's concerns about costs from the building industry.

01:16We're in the middle of a housing shortage.

01:18Housing crisis is becoming increasingly unaffordable and this is an additional cost that ultimately

01:23is going to be borne by the consumer at a time when we're desperate to build more homes.

01:26And at the moment people who are buying a home at a high price can't even fit their

01:30car through the garage because it isn't wide enough.

01:34So that's what we've got to get the balance right for.

01:36A need to balance costs and access.

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