Whangarei Council’s new parking strategy is under way - Vince Cocurullo

Car parking is a hot topic, especially at this time of year.

THREE KEY FACTS

• Pak’nSave Whangārei introduced a 90-minute customers-only restriction at its carpark in September.
• WDC has opened the rooftop of the Central City Car Park building for free three-hour parking until New Year’s Eve.
• The council has a new parking strategy which will be going to consultation early next year.

As our schools shut for the summer, holiday and Christmas shopping steps up and parking becomes an even hotter topic than usual.

One of council’s goals is to support economic prosperity. For retailers that means ensuring a constant flow of customers through their doors, both coming and going.

The latest move by Pak’nSave in Whangārei, by putting time limits on its parking area, shows how much businesses depend on this constant turnover to flourish.

The good news is that we are definitely not ignoring this problem. For some months now, our teams have been working on an overall parking strategy for Whangārei. It covers the city centre and district-wide parking management issues.

The strategy, covering the priorities (bearing in mind that there are always significant costs when infrastructure is involved), will be going to council to start the consultation early next year.

None of this is happening in a vacuum!

In October our teams were impressed by the feedback we got from our business community who came to a NorthChamber Business After Five (BA5) event to discuss the future shape of the city centre.

The city centre draft parking plan, the John St upgrade, the Whangārei CBD Flood Strategy, Rose St bus hub, and the T2 priority lanes were all open for discussion.

That array of topics demonstrates the multiple layers of factors influencing how many people we have in our city each day, how they get there, how they move around, the success or otherwise of public transport and how we cater for everyone, including those with diverse mobility needs.

On top of these large and overlapping issues we also need to consider the different kinds of drivers we have in our district, the reasons they are seeking parking in the city centre, how much they are willing to pay, how long they are going to stay, and how far they are willing to walk.

We want our business community thriving, and making sure people feel comfortable and able to stop, shop, and then move on, is high on our priority list. I promise we are working on this.

I understand fully when frustration levels rise, when you are searching for a carpark, knowing that you only want to pop in and grab one thing. The days of finding carparks directly outside the shop we want are gone.

This time of year, can bring out the best and worst in people. Let’s help each other out.

For those shopping in the CBD, council has opened the rooftop of the Central City Car Park building for free three-hour parking until New Year’s Eve. As an individual working in the CBD, why not park a little further out to free up more parking for shoppers to come and go at this busy time.

It’s a small thing, and when we each do our bit, it will help ease the parking stress and encourage Christmas cheer, something that I know we all enjoy.