Free parking back on Council agenda

Published on 31 March 2014

31 March 2014

Wanganui District Council Strategy and Policy Committee Chair Cr Philippa Baker-Hogan says the provision of free parking in Victoria Avenue on Saturdays will be discussed again on April 3.

At present the Council’s Parking Management Plan includes parking tariff hours on Monday to Saturday from 8.00am to 5.30pm.

“Last year the Council considered whether there should be free parking in the Central Business District on Saturdays and decided that more consultation was needed before making a decision,” Cr Baker-Hogan said.

“The use of metered or time limited parking within any CBD is to maximise the use of the limited number of parking spaces. The idea of introducing free parking was to attract more people to the area, increase the dollar spend in the CBD and assist the local economy.

“We have subsequently talked with Mainstreet Wanganui representatives, a number of retailers, courier companies, the Sommerville Centre and the taxi company to get their views. The proposal for free parking was not well supported, with cost and other implications.

“There are some other options that could be considered which may have less detrimental effect on parking revenue but still find favour with ratepayers.”

Those options include introducing free parking until 10.00am every day. At present SuperGold Card holders have free parking until 11.00am Monday to Friday so there would be some issues to work through if free parking was extended to everyone and the time period and days altered.

The Parking Management Plan, which has been adopted by the Council, includes an option for variable rates for parking in Victoria Avenue. This would allow longer stays in Victoria Avenue and would require a new type of meter to allow variable rates. There would be significant capital costs for the new meters but this option was supported in consultation about the plan.

Cr Baker-Hogan said that due to the wider implications, the recommendation for discussion at the Strategy and Policy Committee’s meeting on April 3 would be to retain the status quo and not introduce free parking on Saturdays.