Randwick City Council opens public consultation about parking near beaches: ''To pay or not to pay?''

2026, March 6

Australia

On Wednesday, Randwick City Council, a municipality on the east coast of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, opened a public consultation period focused on introducing parking fees at beaches within the Randwick area. The consultation, affecting up to thousands of beachgoers in peak hours on hot summer weekends, is set to close on April 15.

The council mailed the consultation paper version to all residents and added to Randwick's "Have Your Say" portal with an online form and a note that feedback may also be provided by phone and in person.

The Council noted the beaches received a lot of non-local traffic, allegedly reaching 84% at certain beaches, according to mobile phone data collected by Veitch Lister Consulting (VLC), a United Kingdom and Australian firm. The revenue from paid parking would help towards beaches cleaning, maintenance, and improving the quality of amenities, the Council wrote on the public consultation page. The Council estimated implementing the proposal would require A$3.6 million expenditure and would generate yearly A$6 million revenue.

Randwick includes the Clovelly, Coogee, Maroubra, Malabar, Little Bay (Malabar Beach), La Perouse (Frenchmans Bay) and Yarra Bay areas. The proposal stated that new signage and parking meters would be installed in late 2026 and 2027 if the proposal was approved.

A Wikinews contributor visited the area, noting previously the parking was time-limited but predominantly free, with selected sections designated as paid parking. Parking at Arden St. was free, while parking at Coogee Oval or near Coogee Pavilion required a fee from 2003 to 2016. Meanwhile, parking near Manly and Bondi beaches outside the Randwick area required a fee in many spots and streets immediately adjacent to the beach as of 2026. Near Manly, a multi-level paid car park was available in a nearby shopping center.