By ANNA USHER

Mosman’s free foreshore parking permits roll over on Wednesday 1 July, handing locals fee-free parking at some of the area’s busiest waterfront car parks – while non-residents pay up to $438 a year for the same access.

The parking permits cover Balmoral South (next to the oval), Clifton Gardens, Rosherville and The Spit, and they run on the financial year, from 1 July to 30 June.

Every rate paying property in Mosman gets one complimentary foreshore permit. Residents can buy up to two more at $68 each.

What a permit actually gets you

The permit means fee-free parking at the Clifton Gardens, Balmoral South, Rosherville and Spit car parks (East, West and Ellery Park), with no meter session required.

It also buys up to three hours free, once a day, at the metered strips locals know well: The Esplanade at Balmoral, The Spit, McLean Crescent beside Rosherville Reserve, and Bradleys Head Road opposite Taronga Zoo.

But there is a catch. You need to activate the free session at the meter by entering your plate, or through the Cellopark app. Forget, and you risk an infringement notice.

What outsiders pay to park at our beaches

For anyone outside Mosman, the same stretch of waterfront comes at a steep price.

A non-resident permit covering all reserves costs $438 a year.

A single weekday permit for Balmoral or The Spit alone is $150. A Saturday or Sunday permit for either is $291. Seven days a week at The Spit runs to $398.

Council bluntly warns that selling on a resident permit to a non-Mosman driver is “a misuse of the system” and it reserves the right to cancel permits or block access to vPermit altogether.

The other permit: parking outside your own front door

Separate to the foreshore scheme is the Resident Parking Scheme, or RPS, which exempts eligible residents from time limits on their own street.

It runs on a different calendar, from 1 November to 31 October, and only covers the specific streets inside marked RPS areas.

Whether you qualify depends on how many off-street spaces your property already has.

In Areas 1 to 13, an RPS permit costs $64, with a maximum of two per eligible property. In Areas 14 and 15, the first permit is $26 and a second is $100 – rising to $185 for a second permit at a property with two off-street spaces.

10 free visitor permits, then $5 a pop

Every household in an RPS area can also issue visitor permits, even without holding an annual permit.

The first 10 each year are free. After that they cost $5 each, up to a maximum of 40 a year.

Foreshore renewals are open now ahead of the 1 July rollover, with permits for the next RPS year usually available from mid-October. Applications for both run through vpermit.com.au/mosman