Speech to Chambers

Delivered by Councillor Seal Chong Wah, to the Debate on E&C Report Clause B - Planning Scheme Policy Amendment To Brisbane City Plan 2014 – Car Parking For Multiple Dwellings, 9th December 2025

I am speaking to the E & C Report Clause B - Planning Scheme Policy Amendment To Brisbane City Plan 2014 – Car Parking For Multiple Dwellings.

Firstly, what does this amendment do? It lowers the minimum amount of parking bays that need to be built in multiple dwellings, like apartments and townhouses, outside of the innermost suburbs. It drops the number of bays required per 2 bedroom apartment citywide, and it drops the number required for lots within 400 metres of public transport with 20 minute headways on weekdays, and 30 minute headways on weekends.

I’m quite happy to see a shift in this administration away from excessive parking requirements. The Greens have been calling for lower parking minimums citywide for years now. These kinds of changes drop the cost to build apartments, and encourage walking, cycling, and taking public transport to get around this city. The only way to cut congestion is to build alternatives to driving. I’ll remind us all that we are the 10th worst in traffic congestion worldwide!

Frankly, the biggest problem in this change is Brisbane’s lack of safe pedestrian crossings, protected bikeways, and frequent public transport. Everyone in this chamber knows that 20 and 30 minute frequencies are hardly ‘frequent’. Globally, the minimum frequency that’s considered ‘frequent’ is 15 minutes, and that’s really what this amendment should require. 15 minute frequencies start to make it possible for people to ‘turn up and go’, instead of planning their whole day around a timetable. 

But this Council is in a catch-22. Our middle and outer ring neighbourhoods have barely any frequent public transport service. Along with that, many neighbourhoods are missing footpaths, and have barely any protected bikeways, with cyclists either fighting pedestrians for footpaths, or hoping that green paint protects them from traffic and trucks on main roads.

This Council could solve these problems, by simply funding more footpaths, separated bike lanes, and more frequent bus service. 

Cutting parking minimums actually saves developers money, but right now these developers will just keep those savings as profit. It certainly won’t drop house prices.

The Greens have called for the State government to remove the cap on infrastructure charges, so that this Council can charge for the real costs to deliver basic infrastructure. As I mentioned earlier, we've also called for ‘value uplift’ charges.

If the Council increased its infrastructure charges or introduced a value uplift charge, just like the Greens have called for, then this city could take a fair share of those savings for the public. We could have frequent public transport, protected bikeways, footpaths and pedestrian crossings, citywide.

Overall, this amendment is good to see. I’m glad that this Council’s consensus is shifting away from car-focused planning. But we need those last puzzle pieces to create the true alternatives to driving.