Parking Permits Explained.

The Council’s new parking permit scheme has landed for Manly CBD and surrounds. It’s aimed at freeing up street parking for residents while still allowing access for visitors and tradies.

Each new Residential parking permit (above left) will have a unique car registration, corresponding to a vehicle which must be registered to the applicant’s address. It sticks to the car windscreen and obviously is not transferrable between vehicles. For multi-car housholds, a second permit, and a third “in special circumstances” are available.

Multi-use permits (above right) will be available whether you have a car or not. They have a unique ID, but are designed for visitors, tradies etc, so they are transferable. A maximum of one is available per property, no exceptions.

If either permit is lost, it’s serious. You must report it to the police, and pay a whopping $545 replacement cost.

Despite these deterrents, the concern is still that some permits, especially the multi-use ones, will be on-sold. A review of the multi-use system will therefore take place after a year, with several audits carried out along the way. If the multi-use system is abused, the Council may stop issuing this type of permit altogether. In that case, we would likely end up with a less convenient system, such as single-use ‘scratchies’.

Other changes are the big decrease in availability of Business and Special Use permits, which should free up street parking, especially around Manly CBD. As well, the permits are now available online.

Initial costs have not changed since last year. The first (residential or multi-use) permit is free, the second $42, and the third $110. They are available now for Little Manly, which is the first area to switch to the new scheme.

More at https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/services/parking/manly-parking-permit-scheme or call 1300 434 434.