Parking is scarce at the best of times across Australia’s major cities, as populations grow and communities get denser. In the suburbs, arguments commonly arise over parking spots, often intensified by residents who need to store boats and trailers.
Such was the case in Sydney this week, where a local woman criticised a boat owner who left their trailer beside an electric vehicle charger in Narrabeen, on the city’s Northern Beaches.
“Is it too much to ask trailer boat owners not to park and obstruct access?” she asked.
The question attracted hundreds of responses online, with people both coming to the woman’s defence and others pushing back.
It’s certainly not the first time parking debates over boat trailers have arisen in Sydney, and even far from the first on the Northern Beaches.
Many in the area believe boats and trailers have no place on the kerb, with the controversial matter being debated at length in recent times.
And when it comes to EV charger access, frustration frequently stems among electric drivers, an issue locals say is becoming increasingly common on the Northern Beaches when regular vehicles restrict access to charging points.
Speaking to Yahoo News, the Narrabeen woman said tensions are high in the suburb, which already battles with limited parking.
“Most of the Northern Beaches are unit dwellings with limited parking,” she said.
“Trailers are parked and forgotten in streets where there are no limits.”
She said the practice not only reduces the number of available spaces, but often leaves vehicles parked too closely together — boxing drivers in and making it difficult, and sometimes unsafe, for others to enter and exit parking spots.
Northern Beaches Council wants to crack down harder on boats and trailers clogging suburban streets. Source: Northern Beaches Council/supplied
The woman pointed to a NSW road rule intended to prevent that exact situation, which requires motorists to leave a one-metre gap between vehicles when parallel parking, a regulation she said is “rarely enforced”.
“Council has a 28-day limit for trailers parked in the streets, but that needs a report to follow up, and who takes note of when that started?” she continued.
She claimed in other parts of Narrabeen, “there are many trailers parked for most of the year” taking up spots for motor vehicles.
As for blocking EV access, the woman said the spot could use proper signage.
“There are no markings to designate that two chargers are there,” she explained.
“It’s a pay-as-you-go EV charging space.”
The woman later revealed the Narrabeen boat owner parked in the spot by “mistake”, with the matter eventually “settled” privately.
One Northern Beaches boat owner was recently shocked to find an angry message painted onto the tarp. Source: Reddit.
Northern Beaches Council weighs in as region’s parking woes continue
Yahoo News spoke to the Northern Beaches Council about the problem, which said it was aware of growing community frustration when EV charging bays are blocked by non-electric vehicles.
This issue arises at locations where the charging infrastructure has been installed by approved private operators under the NSW Government’s State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP).
In these cases, the council said, operators install EV charging stations on existing power poles adjacent to a parking space.
It does not require council approval, which means the adjacent parking spaces are not formally designated as EV-only, and existing parking restrictions apply. Therefore, the boat is parked legally.
The Esplanade in Narrabeen, next to Narrabeen Lagoon, is an unrestricted parking area, and any vehicle, including those with registered boat trailers or caravans, may legally use these spaces, council said.
As frustration over boat congestion continues, councillors have been debating paid parking as a way to address long-running complaints about trailers being left on local streets for extended periods.
Under the proposal, paid parking would mainly apply to residents without off-street parking and would also act as a deterrent for people who leave trailers and boats on residential streets far from their home address.
At present, trailers, including caravans and boat trailers, are not eligible for resident parking permits.
The push follows mounting community pressure for the council to tackle growing concerns over trailers taking up scarce kerbside parking across the LGA.
Residents are already able to report “hot spots” where long-parked trailers are creating road safety or parking issues.
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