Wild notes left as parking war erupts in Australian neighborhood

Residents of an apartment building in Sydney woke to find a bizarre handwritten post-it note stuck to the front of each letter box.

“Remove ur (sic) car immediately from parking-2 This is paid parking,” read the notes, plastered over the unit block in Lakemba, in the city’s west.

There were at least 30 identical notes seen, with a picture posted to Reddit on Thursday.

But by Friday morning, the notes were all gone.

A property listing might shine a bit more light on the situation.

Currently, a studio apartment at the complex is being advertised, which states that there is a secure car space available for an extra $10 per week.

According to the real estate listing for the property, there are 34 double studios in the apartment complex, with “secure basement parking for 16 cars”.

With not many spaces to go around, and a hefty weekly parking fee, one resident was clearly enraged enough to go to the trouble of handwriting a message to each apartment occupant.

The passive-aggressive notes sparked debate online about off-street parking requirements.

“They aren’t allocated street parking but newer buildings are required to have parking spaces provided. One space for every two bedrooms in my building/council,” one comment read.

“Our previous building was like that: only 2+ bedrooms had parking. No parking on the street allowed either. It was very inconvenient so we moved,” another comment said.

Someone questioned why the car spaces wouldn’t be included in rent for this building, and a reply pointed out there were more apartments than spaces.

“If someone doesn’t have a car, you keep control of the space rather than them subletting,” they explained.

“Vacant apartments are more attractive if parking is available, so no point tying spaces to certain apartments if they are going to be unused,” they said.

In December 2023, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure announced two new Draft State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs)- the draft low to mid-rise housing and draft transport oriented development.

The draft low to mid-rise housing SEPP is set to facilitate “development of affordable and diverse housing in the right places and for every stage of life” according to the NSW government.

It includes changes to floor space ratio and parking amenities.

City of Canterbury Bankstown council – Lakemba’s jurisdiction – on Friday released the council’s submission to the NSW government’s housing policy changes in which it expressed concerns with a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

A City of Canterbury Bankstown council spokesperson told news.com.au its “position on parking associated with dwellings is that our current controls should continue to apply”.

They told news.com.au the council has been investigating revised parking controls for town centers near stations as part of its master planning program and a review of Lakemba will also be conducted.

When asked if the council believed the current parking requirements were effective, the spokesperson added “Council considers each application on its merits, taking into consideration Council’s controls and the NSW Apartment Design Guide”.

In its submission to the NSW reforms council, Canterbury Council said the new floor space ratio is anticipated to decrease off-street parking for dual occupancies.

“The proposed parking rate reduction for larger dual occupancies is expected to heighten the demand for on-street parking,” they said.

“Additionally, the proposed parking rate reduction fails to recognize that dual occupancies often house larger or multigenerational families with three or more bedrooms.

“Canterbury-Bankstown’s residential streets were not designed to accommodate extensive on-street parking resulting from very large dual occupancies,” the submission read.

Canterbury-Bankstown will recommend that the NSW Government uphold the Council’s current dual occupancy controls in its submission.

“In their current form, the Draft SEPPs have the potential to undermine Council’s long-standing trajectory of orderly, well-considered and place-based planning.”

The submission also says the time frame in which the drafts were released “limited the ability for our community to properly understand the implications and genuinely have their say” about the reforms.

“The Draft SEPPs were released over the Christmas and new year period, with little engagement beyond councils, and with limited time to comment,” the submission reads.

“Rather than merely endorsing these proposed reforms, we urge the NSW Government to engage in collaborative efforts with us to achieve well-planned, orderly, and managed growth. Our aim is to align with the needs and aspirations of our community, in harmony with the National Housing Accord”.

The submission makes a number of recommendations and requests clarification on numerous more issues in the draft SEPPs.

Council will vote on the submission at its ordinary meeting next Monday, on February 27.