“Unnecessary Burden”: The Impact of Residential Parking Changes

By Nuria Olive

Wondering where all the residential parking spaces have gone? Observer has you covered.

On 8 March 2023, ANU announced a proposal of residential parking changes. In an email sent to the student body, ANU noted these changes would “ensure parking on campus is fair and equitable for all users.” 

Although these changes were initially planned to go ahead in July 2023, they were pushed back to 2024. The parking changes are currently in effect and will impact students living in on-campus accommodation from 2024 onwards.

Each ANU residential hall has been allocated a certain number of parking spaces, according to what the ANU has referred to as the “Australian Standard” of 1.4 parking spaces per 10 beds. Keeping to this “Australian Standard” has meant many residences on Daley Road have lost parking spaces. 

Bruce Hall and Packard Wing have lost the most total parking spaces, with 59 being removed. Conversely, Wamburun Hall and Yukeembruk Village have both lost no permits. An ANU spokesperson confirmed that the below table (Figure 1) displays the up-to-date total parking permits allocated per residence alongside the effect on pre-2024 allocations.

Figure 1: Table of proposed residential parking changes from ANU Parking, released in March 2023.

However, besides the 42 surface permits remaining at Burgmann College, none of these allocated parking spaces remain located at the halls of residence themselves. All have been moved to Dickson Precinct Parking Station which is located on College Lane in Acton. For a student living on the further end of Daley Road at Bruce Hall, this parking station is approximately a twelve minute walk away. 

The ANU Disabilities Student Association (DSA) has cited accessibility concerns with the new parking system. “These changes decrease accessibility to campus, especially for disabled students”, a spokesperson stated. They also noted concerns with “restrictions to personal transportation…not com[ing] alongside changes to public transportation”. 

ANUSA Wellbeing Officer Skye Predavec, who was an ANUSA General Representative at the time, launched a petition to the ACT Government in 2023 to reinstate a bus that runs along Daley Road. The ACT Government has yet to implement public transportation on Daley Road, meaning the parking changes “would be far less problematic if fewer students required use of cars, and therefore parking”, according to the DSA. 

Aisha Thomas, a former resident and Accessibility Representative of Burton and Garran Hall, echoed this sentiment. Thomas outlined the main concerns with the residential parking changes as “directly related to students with accessibility needs” including those “who are unable to commute via public transport” as well as “students with mobility issues who may not be able to walk from the Dickson car park to their res hall”.

When asked for the reasoning behind the new residential parking system, an ANU spokesperson stated it “improves the supply of parking spaces in high demand areas on campus and aims to balance the requirements of all campus users and maximise parking usage. This will ensure that parking availability across campus is equitable for all residences.”

A student living at a Daley Road residence told Observer that the changes to parking are an “unnecessary burden [to] the student body”, emphasising the inequity stemming from “Burg[mann]…retaining surface permits” despite being “next to Dickson [Parking Station]”. 

Aisha Thomas further cited safety concerns, stating that “many students won’t feel safe walking from the Dickson car park to their res hall at night.”

In response to such concerns from students, an ANU spokesperson stated that “ANU has comprehensive security across the campus which operates 24/7. This includes security escorts via the ANU UniSafe team, security cameras and round the clock security patrols.”

The spokesperson noted that residents who have missed out on a permit for Dickson Precinct Parking Station “may purchase a permit in either the Kingsley, Baldessin or Acton Underhill parking stations until a permit for their residential zone becomes available”. 

Furthermore, the spokesperson remarked that students are still able to park in the spaces located at their residence, provided they do so outside of the surface permit restriction hours of 8am-5pm. 

However, due to the limited number of parking permits available to students living on-campus, residents have been parking illegally or paying more to park in available spots across campus. 

According to Thomas, residents have been parking “at the hourly surface parks, which are much more expensive” as well as “across the road at CSIRO or further away” which “puts them at risk of fines and parking infringements”. 

Graphics by Annisa Zatalini

 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Know something we don’t know? Email [email protected] or use our anonymous tip submission.

If you have an issue with this article, or a correction to make, you can contact us at [email protected], submit a formal dispute, or react to the Facebook post.

Want to get involved? You can write articles, photograph, livestream or do web support. We’re also looking for someone to yell “extra!” outside Davey Lodge at 1AM. Apply today!