Newcastle Liberal councillor Callum Pull calls for U-turn on capped car park plan for new residential developments

Planned changes to the Development Control Plan, which City of Newcastle recently put on exhibition, will remove minimum parking requirements and introduce a maximum number of spaces for new developments in the CBD, The Junction, Hamilton and Darby Street.

Car spaces would be capped at an average of one per small or 1-2 bedroom unit and two for large or 3 bedroom dwellings.

Liberal councillor Callum Pull said he believed this would "aggravate the city's parking problem".

"You're putting residents in a position where they spill onto the street and are forced to take up already scarce on-street parking or use expensive, private parking stackers," he said.

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The proposal follows a benchmarking exercise of Wollongong, Randwick, Melbourne, Maribyrnong and Canberra and analysis of Parramatta and North Sydney.

Council said current flat parking rates "which effectively combines both a minimum and a maximum rate" were no longer fit-for-purpose.

"The shift to maximum parking rates will help promote active transport, sustainability and net zero emissions in our city, noting the overall parking rate per development has also slightly increased in comparison to current parking requirements under the proposed changes," council said.

"Providing greater flexibility in parking rates will allow the provision of parking to be driven by market demands."

Cr Pull said he didn't think public transport was good enough to justify the rule.

"Like it or not, almost everyone owns a car," he said. "It's not just a matter of convenience, it's a matter of necessity.

"The council's job should be to accommodate peoples' transport choices, not pursue a green-left dream of no one owning cars."

The proposal is on exhibition at newcastle.nsw.gov.au/yoursay.

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