Cost of parking goes stratospheric

SYDNEY jumped to No. 1 on a list of the world's most expensive cities for parking yesterday after the State Government more than doubled its levy on parking bays in the central business district to $2000 a year.

As part of its mini-budget, the Government expects to raise $58 million a year from the 111per cent increase, a move it hopes will also ease traffic congestion.

But car park operators and business groups have slammed it as nothing more than a blatant tax grab that would do nothing to solve Sydney's traffic problems.

"The government has backed down entirely on a promise to keep the levy increases in line with inflation," said Garth Mathews, chief executive of Secure Parking, the largest Australian-owned car park operator in the country.

"It is ill-conceived, it is silly and there has been no consultation [with industry]," he said, adding that he would have to review his business plans for new car parks.

Mr Mathews said that of the drivers who came into Sydney's CBD between Monday and Friday, only about 7 per cent parked in the city.

"The impact on congestion will be minimal," he said.

Levies on bays in the Sydney, North Sydney and Milsons Point business districts will increase from $950 to $2000 a year, while those applying to business areas in St Leonards, Chatswood, Parramatta and Bondi Junction will rise from $470 to $710.

Exemptions will still apply for some spaces, such as those used exclusively for retail operations, hotels and medical centres.

Figures compiled by Colliers International and Secure Parking show that the increase pushed Sydney from seventh position to first for the most expensive daily parking rates in cities around the world. Sydney's daily median parking rate of $US71 a space compares with $US68 for London's CBD.

Since it was introduced in 1992, the levy has risen from $200 to $2000 but there was no evidence it would help congestion, said the executive director of the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, Patricia Forsythe.

"Clearly, the government thinks no one will have sympathy for people who have to park in the city but this increase will be borne directly by business," she said.

Wilson Parking's chief executive, Craig Smith, said the increase would further distort pricing in the market because it applied only to off-street parking and not bays on the street.