‘Unjust’ parklet fees for hospo owners to stay for now
Adelaide City Council rejected a bid to wipe the fees hospitality businesses pay to operate outdoor dining in converted car park spaces, as one Pirie Street business refuses to pay its $36,000 debt.
Six city businesses have converted paid parking spaces into outdoor dining areas called parklets, requiring them to pay a council fee for the loss of parking revenue on top of a standard parklet operating fee.
Last night, councillor Carmel Noon proposed the council remove the lost parking revenue fee and reimburse affected businesses that had already paid it, but the motion was lost.
Five of these businesses paid the fees in 2023–2024, except for Pirie Street’s Jack and Jill’s Bar and Restaurant, which owes a total of $36,000 to the council.
According to a council report, action is being taken to remove Jack & Jill’s parklet because it refuses to pay the outstanding $14,000 standard parklet per square metre fee and $22,000 loss of parking revenue fee.
Jack & Jill’s owner Tom McLean told the council last night there’s an “appalling” disparity as his parklet, with five tables and 25 stools, is a far greater cost than his other outdoor dining fees which were $1500 for eight tables and 32 chairs.
“Put simply, that’s $47 per seat for outdoor dining, compared to $960 per seat for my parklet. How can this be when both spaces have the one use: outdoor dining?” he said.
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“This is not a matter of opposing fees, but advocating for a fairer system, one that recognises the significant investment businesses make in enhancing Adelaide public spaces.
“Businesses are using their own resources to transform underutilised spaces into leafy, colourful, vibrant areas that attract visitors and contribute to the city’s liveliness.
“We find it appalling that council were directly passing on costs associated with the loss of car parking and fines to small businesses who are trying, without the help of local and state government, to generate revenue and bring office workers and punters back to the CBD. Busier venues create more jobs and in your favour, added payroll tax and GST.”
Jack & Jill’s are invoiced for three types of fees, one for standard outdoor dining, one for operating the parklet and one for parking revenue lost. This picture: Helen Karakulak/InDaily
McLean says they installed the Jack & Jill’s parklet in December 2022 and it cost $80,000. He was given a council grant of $11,000 to help build it.
The loss of parking revenue fee changes depending on the parking bay or street but is 50 per cent of what the ticket machine revenue for that space could have made.
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From October 2023 to June 2025 the council projects their revenue from this fee will be about $58,000.
The council waived parklet fees between 2020 and 2023 as a support measure for the hospitality industry during Covid and applied discounts to the standard parklet fee rates in financial years 23-24 and 24-25, according to its report.
The council report says if they hadn’t applied this discounting, Jack & Jill’s would owe $72,000.
Jack & Jill’s neighbour, The Golden Wattle was one of the first parklets trialled in 2021 that continued under the current fee structure. This picture: Helen Karakulak/InDaily
Noon urged her fellow councillors to support removing the loss of parking revenue fee, saying it was “unjust”.
“Parklets are a benefit, not a burden,” she said.
“We are proposing to remove car parks in areas like Hutt Street, Hindley Street, Light Square for revitalisation, those decisions which forfeit revenue were framed as investments in a more sustainable, pedestrian-friendly future, why should it be any different for small businesses contributing in a similar way?
“UParks are our second highest source of revenue after rate collection, it’s reasonable to question whether we’re genuinely losing revenue or simply shifting it from on-street parking to UParks, penalising businesses for this supposed loss feels both unfair and unnecessary.”
Noon’s motion was lost, with councillors instead opting to bring this issue into their budget deliberations for the upcoming financial year.
The council will review the parklet fees as part of their 2025/26 budget, with a report on how the parklet fees are structured due in March.
There are currently 15 parklets in the city, but only six are required to pay the loss of parking revenue fee, including Pirie Street’s Soho, Osteria Oggi and Abbots and Kinney and Hindley Street’s Motherlode.
