Attachment F - Carparking Evaluation -Noosa Carparking Study - McGagney report

                                                                                                      Noosa Council
                                                                                 Noosa Car Parking Study 2017 - 2032
                                                                                                        Final Report


6.3      Parking Policy Recommendations
Noosa Shire Council has an opportunity to progress Parking Policy, which could include the removal of minimum
parking rates and the introduction of maximum parking rates. Notwithstanding, it is often difficult to build
capacity in the general community to understand the real costs / implications of parking oversupply. For this
reason, it is sometimes appropriate to approach the most desirable parking supply levels in stages.

The advantage of managing parking supply via the rates applied to developments in the Noosa Plan is that it
takes a whole development cycle, say 50 years, maybe 70 years, for all developments that were built under the
old rate to be replaced with developments which supply parking at the new rate. This gives the market ample
time to adjust. The disadvantage is if that rates are found to be too generous and results in developments with
too much parking – they stay there for a long time, and naturally won’t be redeveloped every time there is an
adjustment to the parking rate requirements. Furthermore, the transport environment in Noosa may change
significantly in this time-frame, such that previous assumptions around parking supply and appropriate parking
rates may no longer be relevant.

It is also noted that the use of parking minimums allows policymakers to implement in-lieu payments as a means
by which parking supply can be reduced, with contributions reallocated to shared parking supply and / or active
and public transport infrastructure improvements applicable to Transport Strategy principles. It is further
acknowledged that the possibility of the implementation of a in-lieu payment policy inhibits incentives to
remove parking minimums in the short-term. Finally, it is noted that the presence of parking minimums enables
council to encourage investment in non-parking solutions through a reduction in minimum parking
requirements.

As such, the following is a potential progressive change framework for changes to overall parking management.
These can be considered a transition plan, from minimal intervention in the short-term to more significant
changes to the parking management framework in the longer-term:

Short-term
   Implement a lower limit of parking minimums and an upper limit of parking maximums, with consideration
    given to parking minimums of other similar regional councils, the observed utilisation of existing parking
    provisions, best practise parking rate recommendations and the longer-term planning for parking rates in
    Noosa Shire.
   Establish a framework for the limited reduction of parking provisions below parking minimums through the
    use of travel demand management measures by developers and in-lieu payment contributions. Investigate
    opportunities to implement unbundled parking and shared parking in centres.
   Simplify land use scenarios into three categories - Non-residential (shops & offices), residential permanent
    (multiple dwellings) and residential short term (short term accommodation).


Medium-term
   Reduce the range between parking minimums and parking maximums, through consideration of observed
    parking supply demand by developers, and the impact of adjusted parking minimum requirements on
    utilisation of parking provisions in the region, best practise parking rate recommendations and the longer-
    term planning for parking management in Noosa Shire.




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