A standard day of cars parked in the avenues in Tauranga. Photo / George Novak
Tauranga council plans to ticket people parking on streets outside their homes have been panned by city commissioners, who said the suggestion is "not the solution".
But Tauranga City Council's head of city infrastructure disagrees, saying the move could provide greater opportunity to shift people on to alternative modes of transport.
The discussion of parking "enforcement" in residential areas was raised in a Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting on Monday when staff presented a draft Parking Management Strategy.
The strategy document stated time limits might be appropriate for residential areas and "... on-street parking can impact the ability for parts of the transport network to function and perform as intended".
"As Tauranga grows and intensifies, it becomes more important to move higher numbers of people around using transport options that create less demand on space."
Commissioner Bill Wasley questioned if there would be enforcement of local streets "where there are too many cars for the spaces available".
Lead strategic planning Alistair Talbot responded: "Enforcement measures, whatever they may be, could be a key leader."
Commissioner Stephen Selwood warned such "enforcement" had the potential to blow up in the council's face.
"It will become a serious problem because people who have nowhere to park outside their home become [penalised] for parking. This is a significant issue in other areas. Queenstown experiences it. Auckland experiences it. We are starting to experience it.
"The strategy is going to have to deal with this problem," he said.
In August last year, a new Government policy meant local council planning regulations could not longer dictate the number of car parks a development had to provide.
It was noted in the strategy document this National Policy Statement had the potential to increase demand for parking on the streets in residential areas.
Selwood referred to Pāpāmoa East, where increased housing intensification had been encouraged by the council.
"We have this conflict between a desire for intensification and a shift to public transport in places that are a country mile away from amenities, schools, people's work, etc," he said.
Selwood said greater intensification created "enormous overspill" and needs for car parking.
"There's a major disconnect going on."
He said the parking strategy has to address the needs of the community but "I don't think we are on target with that".
"The reality is this will only get greater in the future. We need to be strategic in this at all levels.
"Just pinging people with tickets ... is not the solution."
Commission chairwoman Anne Tolley said cars were already parked "all over the place" in Pāpāmoa. She doubted giving people tickets was dealing with that.
"You are trying to achieve a behavioural change for people with complexities. Even if you put in good public transport with a park-and-ride service, people are going to need to get to the place."
Council chief executive Marty Grenfell said the council's Infrastructure Development Code (IDC) was a contributing factor.
"The sense is that IDC is trying to drive intensification but is delivering that sub-optimal outcome where cars are being parked all over the place."
However, general manager of infrastructure Nic Johannson disagreed and said the city needed to consider how big a role the car played in the future of the city.
"There's a bigger picture to be discussed here. We started out by saying the parking strategy was not just a parking strategy but a housing and transport lever. It can give people a better opportunity to hop on public transport."
Talbot responded to the commissioner's concerns by saying the team would work on amending the strategy to better address the issues raised.
The committee approved the draft Parking Management Strategy for public consultation, pending amendments.
Consultation on the draft Parking Strategy is expected to go out to the community from September.
Parking proposal a 'good thing' but no answer
Grace Road, Avenues and Neighbourhood Residents Association chairman Phil Green said the proposal to deter people from residential parking was "a good thing".
Many people have long used the Avenues to park during the day while working nearby. This resulted in clogged streets from the CBD up to 12th Ave, Green said.
"It's an issue that's not going to go away. But I don't think fining people is the answer."
Green said it was likely the proposal to deter people parking in the streets would only shift the problem elsewhere. He believed the real problem was a lack of CBD parking for workers.
Pāpāmoa Residents and Ratepayers Association chairman Philip Brown said Tauranga's ongoing urban sprawl meant multiple cars were a necessity for most families, as was parking on the street.
"As the council allows smaller and smaller sections, this is often is the only place to park.
"Keeping Tauranga compact and travel times short may encourage ratepayers to use alternative models of transportation," Brown said.