Have your say: New Fees and Charges from 1 January 2026

As part of our Budget 2025/26, Council is proposing to introduce new fees for parking permits and events effective 1 January 2026.

User fees help cover the cost of delivering specific Council services.

Instead of using general rates to fund everything, we charge fees for services that are used by individuals. This way, those who use the services help pay for them, and help Council continue to maintain areas like roads, footpaths and community facilities.

We’ve also reviewed our broader user fees and charges in our 25-26 Budget to ensure they reflect competitive market rates and support the ongoing delivery of services. Any increases have been kept at levels that are manageable and sustainable, helping us recover costs while continuing to provide high-quality services.

When setting our fees, we consider key principles like fairness, cost recovery, and the ‘user-pays’ approach. As a result of benchmarking with other councils and service providers, some areas will see increases above CPI (Consumer Price Index) in the 25-26 Budget year.

What are the proposed changes?

Parking Permits

From 1 January 2026, Council is proposing to introduce scaled fees for resident parking permits, starting from the first permit issued. This change follows a review of our permit system and brings us in line with neighbouring councils. However, Stonnington actually offers more parking permits than most other similar councils, and the proposed new fees are still under the average permit cost.

This approach also responds to feedback received during consultation for the Parking Action Plan where respondents said they wanted Council to prioritise residential and visitor parking, and create greater fairness in parking allocation, including permits.

Event fees – birthday parties

There is a proposed minor change to the pricing structure of events at Grattan Gardens and Phoenix Park Community Centres, with a new category of ‘birthday parties’ added. The per session time is up to 6 hours.


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  • completion of the masterplan implementation at Percy Treyvaud Memorial Park including oval reconstruction and upgraded lighting ($2.50 million)
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  • commencement of redevelopment activity including tenancy conversion works for the Prahran Market ($0.55 million)
  • air conditioning upgrades at key community facilities ($0.75 million)
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