There'll be free parking for six weeks at all Whangārei CBD parking spaces from Monday as the council seeks to help retailers hit hard by Omicron.
There'll be free parking for six weeks at all Whangārei CBD parking spaces from Monday as the council seeks to help retailers hit hard by Omicron.
Six weeks of free parking in Whangarei starts on Monday to help city retailers overcome Omicron pain.
Visitors to the city centre are asked not to feed coins into the "lollipop" and other parking meters from March 14 to April 25.
"Businesses have been doing it hard during the Covid pandemic and in the past two weeks especially, the central city has seen less foot traffic than usual," Mai said.
"People are doing the right thing, being careful and minimising their exposure to the virus and we are encouraging them to keep doing that: mask up, scan in, use sanitiser, be sensible – and support local businesses," she said.
"They need us and we need them. We want everyone to survive now, so we can all rebuild in the good times that must lie ahead."
Mai said all of public carparks for visitors to Whangārei would be free, including the council's online MPark and electronic ticketing, which would be turned off. But she said those using the "lollipop" carparking meters would need to remember not to put money into them during the parking charge pause.
It applies to all paid WDC carparks across the district - including the city centre and Town Basin. It will apply to metered parks on street sides, plus the city's John St carpark building and carparks in John and James Sts.
Northland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Steve Smith urged people to make the most of the opportunity.
"Come into town, have some fun. Rebuild your relationships with business and store owners. Don't just hide away at home. There are some great cafes. Enjoy yourselves, winter will be here soon enough," Smith said.
Those who worked in the city centre were asked not to use the free parking outside where they worked, therefore denying customers a park, Mai said.
Whangārei District Council made the parking pause move at an emergency meeting yesterday.
Parking charges will be waived for six weeks from Monday in all Whangārei CBD public parking spaces
The move will cost ratepayers $242,500 in lost parking income, but Mai said the council believed this would be offset by benefits for retailers.
"With luck people will spend that and much more in our district," Mai said.
Parking time limits will still be enforced by wardens. Paid lease carpark arrangements will remain.
Smith said the free parking would be a big help to rural people who could park for free outside the store they wanted to visit.
"Any initiative intended to bring more people into town is to be applauded, particularly for our rural people," Smith said.
Free carparking in the city was first offered in autumn 2020 and very briefly in spring 2021 in line with level three and four lockdowns.
