Parking costs rise to free up spaces

The cost of parking behind Whangarei's Municipal Building - or Old Town Hall - is getting more expensive as Whangarei District Council looks to beat carpark congestion. Photo / File

The cost of parking behind Whangarei's Old Town Hall is going up as Whangarei District Council wants to free up spaces in the carpark after complaints from nearby businesses, community groups and the public.

The council's infrastructure and services committee on Wednesday voted to raise parking fees in the carpark from 60 cents an hour to $1.

In September 2011, the council adopted a parking management strategy, setting out that it would seek to manage the parking and occupancy rates through fees.

If the occupancy rates of a parking area were greater than 90 per cent, the council would increase the fees to reduce the occupancy rates to achieve between 70-80 per cent, ensuring a parking space would be available when required by customers.

But it had recently received a number of complaints from Te Aroha Noa medical centre staff and its customers, Whangarei Citizen's Advice Bureau and some general public users of the area regarding the occupancy rates, saying people parked there for too long.

Staff at the medical centre said a change in time limits for the carpark from three hours to all day parking had compromised patients' ability to access services.

More than 150 people signed a petition calling for the council to implement a few time-monitored parking spots.

The council's parking contractors, Environmental Northland, carried out a survey which confirmed the occupancy rates of the carpark in the morning period were 100 per cent and over 90 per cent in the afternoon.

Discussions with some of the surrounding businesses resulted in requests for time restrictions, as opposed to increasing fees only. But in line with its parking policy, the council believed the increase in the parking fee would be enough to bring down the occupancy rate.

To achieve the 70-80 per cent occupancy rate, it has brought the Old Town Hall carpark in line with charges at Forum North, Water St and Laurie Hall carparks.