Commision News & Views with Commission Chair Anne Tolley

The Weekend Sun's coverage of Tauranga City Council's recent parking plan changes was headlined ‘Free parking kicked to the curb'. That's fair enough, but as we all know, few things are actually ‘free'.

The free parking trial introduced in 2020 has helped retailers get back on their feet after the COVID-19 lockdowns, but it was never intended to be a permanent solution, and with increasing evidence that CBD workers are using on-street spaces for all-day parking, it was time to revisit this policy.

The intent of on-street parks in the city centre is to provide parking for people close to the shops they want to visit.

For that to work, there has to be a regular turnover of short-term users and that's obviously not going to happen if a lot of the spaces are being used all day. To discourage all-day parking, the Commission has approved a staged return to paid parking. As from December 1, the cost of an on-street parking space will be charged at $1 an hour for the first two hours and $5 an hour thereafter. From February 1, 2023, the charge for the first two hours will increase to $2 an hour. Even with those changes, the Council's parking activity faces a loss of close to $2 million this year, which will have to be repaid from future parking revenue.

We think creating opportunities for shoppers to park close to their shopping destination will be welcomed by most people, with the low short-term parking cost being an acceptable trade-off.

Other changes in the city's parking plan will kick-in from November next year.

These aim to ensure that users will pay a fairer share of the true cost of parking provision; return the parking activity to a break-even financial position in 2024; and encourage increased use of other transport modes, which will in turn have positive impacts on traffic congestion and carbon emissions.