Councillor Billy Meehan said the vote at the community committee in August to refer a request to extend free parking for SuperGold cardholders to the development of a parking framework was very close (six votes to seven).
Some councillors were away and he believed one who voted was “confused by the system”.
Meehan said when the issue of extending free parking was first raised in May, councillors against an extension wanted a report.
“The report came back from officers and clearly said no big cost, no big deal. We then moved the goalpost and went to a parking management plan. What I see here is that the goalposts are going to keep being moved.
“These people have been paying rates for 50-plus years. They have been here a long time, a lot longer than some of the councillors around the table.”
Free parking in the afternoon would provide elderly people with the flexibility to go into town when they felt like it during the day. The morning did not suit some people.
“Everyone of us around this table has 24/7 free parking. We could at least offer that privilege to those elderly people who have been in our city for such a long, long time.”
Councillor Rachel Bowen summed up the tenor of the debate.
“Thank you colleagues, normally I have to go to the theatre to get my drama but it’s all here today.”
Mayor Grant Smith said the CBD is “really brittle”.
“We lost 100-plus jobs in retail in the last couple of months and there’s probably more to come. The for lease and sale signs and vacancies have started to increase.”
The parking framework would not come back to elected members for at least a year, Smith said.
Councillor William Wood said councillors’ risk appetite was “exceptionally low”.
“I don’t need a report to tell me that if people spend more time in town they are going to spend more money. As the mayor said, it is not like our CBD is chocka 24/7.”
Councillor Lew Findlay said providing free parking from 9am to 3pm meant more people would be able to volunteer in the CBD.
Councillor Pat Handcock said the issue needed to be considered as part of the development of the parking framework so there could be a rational decision.
Councillor Lorna Johnson said she wanted to hear not just from people who would benefit from an extension but from those who would be affected in other ways.
Councillor Orphee Mickalad said he believed in good decision-making based on evidence. Voting for the extension to come into effect straight away was putting the horse before the cart.
The views of the wider community needed to be taken into account and spending more time in the CBD did not always equate to spending more money, he said.
That SuperGold car parking be extended from 9am-12pm to 9am to 3pm weekdays was passed nine votes to six.
For: Mark Arnott, Vaughan Dennison, Lew Findlay, Roly Fitzgerald, Leonie Hapeta, Debi Marshall-Lobb, Billy Meehan, Grant Smith, William Wood.
Against: Brent Barrett, Rachel Bowen, Pat Handcock, Lorna Johnson, Orphee Mickalad, Karen Naylor.
Councillor Kaydee Zabelin was absent on council business.
