9 December 2025
North Sydney Council on Monday night voted down a proposal to investigate parking assistance for executive staff at Neutral Bay Public School, concluding that such support would set an unsustainable precedent across the local government area’s 22 schools.
The motion, brought by councillors Jessica Keen and Efi Carr, sought an officer’s report on potential mechanisms used in other NSW councils to assist school staff working in high-demand parking precincts. Neutral Bay Public School is the only school in the North Sydney LGA without off-street parking.
Appearing via video link, school principal Joanne Sayers told councillors that staff regularly faced long periods circling for parking from as early as 6.30am, with almost all parking within a one kilometre radius limited to one or two hours. She said ongoing construction on Ben Boyd Road and Yeo Street, alongside proposed redevelopment of the Woolworths site, had further tightened supply.
Sayers said a majority of staff drove to work because of travel time and the need to transport materials or attend external events. She contrasted her 23 minute drive from Randwick with a 58 minute public transport trip involving multiple transfers. “Staff arrive anytime from 6.30am through to about 8.40am and even prior to 7am there is often no all-day parking,” she said. She added that executive staff required cars to attend meetings at locations such as Collaroy, Macquarie Park and Mosman, and that it was “virtually impossible” to find a space on return during the school day.
She also noted that other councils, including Waverley, Inner West and City of Sydney, had adopted specific permit models to support teachers or essential service workers.
Carr told councillors that parking difficulties around the school were “real” and that identifying options for a small number of executive staff would support educational operations. Keen added that Neutral Bay Public School’s lack of onsite parking placed it in a unique position. “We have deliberately not specified the mechanism,” she said. “We are asking staff to identify feasible options.”
Opposition to the motion centred on the broader implications. Councillor MaryAnn Beregi said Council already issued more permits than were available spaces and that residents had raised concerns about parking scarcity since the motion was tabled. She argued that similar claims could be made by childcare workers, hospital staff or aged care providers, and said the Department of Education should fund alternative transport if parking was required for work purposes.
Councillor Chris Holding said the proposal could only be considered in the context of all schools in the LGA. “If we apply this to one particular school, really we have to look at that policy across all schools,” he said.
Mayor Zoë Baker said Council had faced comparable requests each term from schools and other essential services. She said grant-based parking schemes were inconsistent with Council’s longstanding residential permit framework and the high density of the LGA. “We have limited on-street parking and infinity demand,” she said, adding that North Sydney’s extensive public transport access and sustainable transport policy were relevant considerations.
Council ultimately voted against the motion.