Sparks fly over park-and-ride, free parking in Tauranga

Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor Garry Webber. Photo / File

Frustrations over free CBD parking and park-and-rides in Tauranga were laid bare in a regional Public Transport Committee meeting today.

Tauranga City Council was accused of operating contrary to the rest of the region - one mayor suggested the council be kicked out of the committee.

The Bay of Plenty Regional Council joint committee was considering a Tauranga council report on a study into potential park-and-ride "quick wins".

Park-and-rides are part of medium-and long-term transport plans for the city, but this was a study on short-term opportunities.

Sixteen sites were narrowed down to two privately owned sites in Pāpāmoa and Tauranga South as well as Baypark.

But the council found none had the attributes needed for success: a cost advantage for users in getting out of their cars and on to a bus, bus priority measures to get through congested routes faster than a car, frequent bus services nearby and proximity to arterial routes.

Bay of Plenty regional councillor Jane Nees. Photo / File

Regional councillor Jane Nees said she was concerned to see "potentially good long-term sites" discounted because of route congestion and a lack of bus priority.

"I'm really frustrated that these sites have been looked at and said 'nup' because there's congestion.

"It's a chick and egg situation: If you don't give people options where they can leave their car and hop on a bus and get into the city or wherever they want to go, you're not going to get rid of the congestion."

Tauranga City Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said the council was still looking at park-and-ride sites through its Transport System Plan (TSP), and it was only saying none could be done ahead of that.

Nees said the TSP did not have the "obvious" sites like Baypark and Tauriko in the first three years.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor Garry Webber. Photo / File

Western Bay of Plenty mayor Garry Webber challenged the idea of a "quick" win, saying park-and-rides had been in the plan for Tauranga since at least 2004.

He said his read of the city council's long-term planning documents was that funding for park-and-rides was still 10 years away.

"Twenty-six years for a quick win."

"We know and have known since 2004 which roads you can put a bus down. What the hell is taking us so damn long? And now we have a great document here that says we are going to postpone it yet again. How many goddamn reports do we need here?"

He said there was no evidence over the past year of progress.

"I just wonder whether we ought to take Tauranga City out of this committee and send it somewhere on its own, because the rest of us are getting on."

He said the Western Bay was already getting on with park-and-rides, having bought the land years ago.

Tauranga councillor Larry Baldock. Photo / File

Tauranga city councillor Larry Baldock stuck up for his council, saying Baypark was not going anywhere and would one day make a good site.

"But at the moment, asking people to get out of their cars and get on a bus and go through all the congestion of [the Baylink] construction just doesn't work."

"I want to assure the committee we are working on park-and-ride, we haven't lost the site, and it is a very very important part of the PT network, and we will get there."

Bisley added that the TSP was a joint study between Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and the three local councils - including the Western Bay - so the timing was not controlled by Tauranga alone.

Regional councillor Norm Bruning said he shared Webber's frustration.

"We're just talking round and round."

Western Bay councillor Norm Bruning. Photo / File

He raised Tauranga City Council's recent decision to extend its CBD free parking trial.

"That is totally contrary to what we are trying to do around here."

He said the parking was being used by commuters, who should be the first targets for measures to reduce traffic at peak hours.

"We're working against each other," he said, and wondered aloud why he had bothered to come to the meeting.

He said it was not acceptable to put off park-and-rides.

"I am just about ready to walk."

Baldock tried to interject but Bruning raised his voice.

"You have considered an item in isolation from the total voting network problem we have in Tauranga," Bruning said.

Bisley said the free time-limited parking trial was aimed at helping create parks for customers of local CBD businesses hit hard by Covid-19, and move commuters into parking buildings, and it appeared to be working.

The committee voted to accept the park-and-ride report.