Northern Beaches Council has digitised its parking permit system, and while the change was designed to streamline services, some Manly residents say it has made managing their household parking significantly more difficult.
The shift replaces physical stickers with digital permits tied to individual vehicle registrations. For most regular residential permit holders, the change is straightforward. The friction is centred on one specific permit: the multi-use parking permit.
Previously sold in a removable sleeve, the multi-use permit could be transferred between any vehicle at any time. Many households used it as a de facto third permit for a third car. Under the new system, that flexibility is gone. Residents must now register a specific vehicle online before each use, with each session expiring after 24 hours and a cap of 40 free sessions per year. Sessions beyond that cost $5 per day.
Residents who contacted Manly Observer have described the booking requirement as unworkable for busy households where cars come and go at short notice. Parking a car without a valid permit risks a fine of around $120.
The digitisation will eventually be widespread, but it has only just begun for the Manly Parking Permit Scheme.
The permits will replace both physical site-specific permits and general Northern Beaches Parking Permits, which allow free parking across many beachfront locations. The idea is to streamline services and reduce management issues, such as dealing with lost or damaged stickers.
It was also a tactic to take down the ‘pen black market’, in which users with a surplus of beach parking stickers attempted to resell their permits online under the guise of a pen.
The updated Scheme was announced in 2025, but it was only first rolled out in sections around Manly area recently. Since then, residents have had some issues with the new strings attached to the multi-use parking permit.
Explain again, what’s the issue?
Unlike the beach and residential parking stickers, the multi-use parking permits were placed in a plastic sleeve that could be attached and detached from windscreens and didn’t have a registration attached, allowing it to be used across any vehicle at any given time and duration.
To use the multi-permit today, each session requires the resident to register the vehicle for intended use of the permit online, choose a start date and time that expires after 24 hours once activated, and cannot be booked more than 7 days in advance.
The permit now also allows for just 40 free parking sessions annually; any additional sessions proposed after this will cost $5 per day.
Manly residents have reached out to Manly Observer, citing issues with the new features, highlighting that it is “impossible” to manage registration bookings when household members are constantly coming and going on a whim. It was further cited as unreasonable to enforce limited free sessions for the third permit when there are more than two cars per dwelling.
However, Council has stood by the new features, stating that although the method of administration has been updated to a digital system, the multi-use permit was never intended to serve as a third parking permit and that its use should be limited to supporting short-term parking for visitors, tradespeople and carers within the permit area.
This includes areas that Council considers have limited off-street parking and high demand for kerbside parking, and was developed in accordance with the Transport for NSW Permit Parking Guidelines.
Under normal circumstances, residents who fall within the Manly Parking Permit Scheme are limited to only two specific site parking permits, the first costing $55 and the second $121 annually.
What To Do If You Have A Third Vehicle
It is possible for households experiencing “genuine hardship” to receive a third parking permit at $306 if they claim an extenuating circumstance.
“In extenuating circumstances, Council will continue to consider requests for a third residential parking permit on a case-by-case basis,” a representative from Northern Beaches Council shared.
“This may include larger households where planning controls restrict the provision of off-street parking. Council also acknowledges the important role played by charities, schools, volunteers and not-for-profit organisations, and continues to provide access to Manly special issue parking permits upon request.”
