D PETITION – REQUESTING COUNCIL REVERSE THE CHANGES TO PARKING RESTRICTIONS IN MILTON 6

Speech to Council Chambers, delivered by Councillor Seal Chong Wah on 26th May 2026

I rise to speak on Petition D. This petition contained 246 signatures requesting Council reverse recent changes to parking restrictions in Milton. The petitioners have raised concerns about high parking costs and limited availability of on-street parking in the area.

In August 2025, Brisbane City Council introduced new metered parking on multiple streets, significantly cut the number of “Resident Permit Excepted” parking spots and increased the cost of existing metered parking in the area. As we can expect from this administration, there was no consultation. No warning. No notice to residents, local businesses, or even to me as the local Councillor. The community was simply kept in the dark. 

The Council response to petitioners, says “Recent changes to paid on-street parking in Milton were introduced following community feedback”. Any suggestion of community consultation is absolute rubbish.  There was no communication, no consultation. The only communications to the community that happened was after the changes were made, due to the community outcry. 

Even council managers admitted this change was a complete mess, that it was originally only intended as minor changes, that then spiralled into a major change, without any consultation. An internal council review was conducted and I did receive an apology for not being notified before the change - but my community have not received an apology from this LNP administration nor from this Mayor.

Local businesses were quite rightly angry due to concerns that the increase in parking costs would reduce customer spend, visitor numbers and time spent in the precinct. 

For residents, these changes would exacerbate the very high demand for on-street resident and visitor parking. Council’s data shows that Resident Permit-Excepted parking across the affected streets in Milton was reduced by 61%.

Since these changes there has been a significant impact on both local businesses and residents. This LNP Council should be supporting our local businesses and community instead of implementing, what has been confirmed by council staff as, a revenue raising scheme. 

Parking fees in Milton are currently set at $6.35 per hour for short-term paid parking - which is a significant cost considering all the added pressure of cost of living and the fuel crisis. Significant changes, including major parking changes, should undergo a thorough community consultation to allow business and residents to have an opportunity to provide feedback, air concerns or discuss the possible impact of these major decisions. 

Another concern is that drivers need the CellOPark app to pay for parking, which is an equity issue for elderly people and those without smartphones. This also requires disclosure of personal information to a private company, without Council ensuring that this personal data is protected. I wrote to the Lord Mayor about concerns relating to data protection in January, 2025, but there's been no response.

Our community considers these changes to parking to be a revenue-raising exercise that has harmed the local economy, has not meaningfully improved parking turnover in the Milton area and has introduced serious equity concerns. It's alarming that the Brisbane City Council Administration continues to disproportionately rely on residents and local businesses for revenue-raising, while giving massive tax handouts to wealthy developers, cutting funding to maintenance services and slashing the ferry services at the Milton terminal by 42%.  

Our community requests that Council reverses the recent changes to parking restrictions in Milton, until consultation with local businesses and residents takes place.

Therefore, I don’t support the recommendation.