Missed bins and blocked driveways: Car parking accelerates into election issue
Residents are revving up over big cars, caravans and trailers that clog up roads – but councils say they’re powerless to fix it. One resident says people are moving out of her street because it is so bad. Find out how this will feature at the polls in March.
More cars, utes, caravans and trailers are spilling onto streets, but there’s little the council can do to help unless the next state government beefs up parking laws, the Local Government Association (LGA) President says.
LGA President Heather Holmes-Ross said councils are receiving more and more complaints about parking congestion on suburban roads, and she wants to work with the next government to get vehicles “off suburban streets and into garages or other storage where they belong”
“Suburban streets are not personal storage spaces,” Holmes-Ross said.
“Street congestion is already a growing issue as more allotments are being subdivided across Adelaide and one, two or even three dwellings are being built on land footprints that were previously occupied by a single home.
“Unfortunately, the way the road laws are written means councils often can’t act or compel the owners of these long vehicles to move them.”
A Charles Sturt Council resident, who gave her name as Michelle, said parking congestion on her street has gotten so bad that one of her neighbours has put her house up for sale and decided to move because “she can’t deal with the stress of not being able to come and go”.
Michelle said she was frequently unable to get out of her driveway, and her bin collection was often missed because of neighbours’ cars filling the streets.
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“The most annoying part is that there are no laws to say that they have to park at least a metre from the edges of my driveway, which means, some mornings, my driveway is congested,” she said.
“On most days, I have to do a three-point turn, a five-point turn or even reverse up my opposite neighbour’s driveway, but if their car is there, I can’t get out.”
She said the problem was a combination of her neighbours being inconsiderate, councils “being too soft” and rubbish companies not getting out of the truck to move your bin.
Last year, the state government attempted to pass a Statutes Amendment (Vehicle Parking and Urban Renewal) Bill 2025 through parliament that would have set minimum garage sizes and other standards to get cars off the streets.
But an “unholy alliance” formed against the Labor bill, drawing criticism from the SA Greens and the development sector warning the changes would “entrench car reliance” and essentially create a “car parking tax” on the cost of a building in the midst of a housing crisis.
When the legislation failed to get up, Premier Peter Malinauskas said he would make it an election issue.
Michelle said she would want to see garages being built to take cars off the street, but didn’t think it was a “one solution-fixes-all” scenario.
She said houses should have an equivalent number of parking spaces for the people who live there, whether it’s a garage or driveway.
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“Urban consolidation works extremely well when people understand that it’s not just about the convenience of living near the city, you have to take on that lifestyle,” she said.
“That means you don’t own six or seven cars. You don’t fit six people into a small home. You can’t pick a 300 square metre block and have seven cars.
“Everyone who visits me can park on my driveway, and I’ve always had that in every house I’ve lived in.”
Michelle said she feared it would get worse, as more houses are currently being built in her street – and with them would likely come more cars.
Housing and Urban Development Minister Nick Champion told InDaily the legislation introduced last year was “sensible and well-crafted” and if re-elected, the Labor government would “deliver on our commitment to get this legislation passed and get cars off our streets”.
“There is a clear choice at the upcoming election,” Champion said.
“If you want bigger garages and less congestion on suburban streets, vote Labor. If you want to see streets clogged with parked cars, vote Liberal.”
Shadow Housing Minister Michelle Lensink said the Liberal Party has never stood in the way of the government’s election commitments.
Lensink said her party “simply put forward practical changes” to strengthen the legislation and that the government had a “dummy spit” when it did not pass.
“We remain concerned that it could add up to $120,000 to the cost of new builds for first home buyers,” Lensink said.
“What we’ve seen instead is a full-blown dummy spit from Labor. Instead of being prepared to debate the amendments, this arrogant government is treating the legislative council like a rubber stamp.”
The Local Government Association backed the government’s proposal to increase garage sizes.
President Holmes-Ross said: “This is not an anti-development position. It’s a pro-community position”.
“The clear feedback councils hear from communities is they don’t want to see local streets crammed full of vehicles, and it’s why we support the state government taking this proactive approach,” she said.
