Mary Potter Hospice slams Wellington City Council plan to restrict car parks in Newtown

Wellington City Council wants to make about half of the 5000 car parks in the Newtown and Berhamphore areas restricted to a three-hour time limit, with exemptions available for residents. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mary Potter Hospice has warned a Wellington City Council proposal to restrict time limits for about 2500 car parks will be “catastrophic” and risks eroding its ability to look after people at the end of their lives.

“There is a very high risk that some staff and people visiting loved ones in the hospice will not be able to get a park at all,” hospice chief executive Tony Paine said in a written submission to the council.

“This is a risk that will be traumatic for visitors, stressful for staff already involved in challenging and difficult work, and if it led to one or more key staff not being on the in-patient unit for a shift, it would lead to significant risks to patient wellbeing and safety.”

It’s estimated up to 1200 staff at nearby Wellington Regional Hospital will also be affected by the changes.

The council wants to make about half of the 5000 car parks in the Newtown and Berhamphore areas restricted to a three-hour time limit, with exemptions available for residents.

There are currently only 169 car parks dedicated to residents and they are struggling to compete for parking, especially near the hospital.

The council has already made changes to its parking proposal in response to public feedback.

These include extending the time limit from two hours to three hours, the new rules only being enforced on weekdays rather than at weekends too, and delaying putting plans in place on the hospital side of Newtown until mid-2025.

However, Paine said these changes have failed to address any of Mary Potter Hospice’s concerns.

“We remain deeply concerned that our ability to provide quality patient and whānau care for people at the end of their lives will be compromised to the point where we will need to question the viability of continuing to operate in our present location.”

The hospice has at least 50 staff who rely on getting a park on the street each week for eight hours during their shifts.

Paine said his read of the council’s proposal was that longer-term parking for non-residents would be at least a 15-minute walk from the hospice.

It’s estimated up to 1200 staff at nearby Wellington Regional Hospital will also be affected by the parking changes. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Mary Potter Hospice has been providing palliative care for people living in the Wellington region for more than 30 years from its building on Mein St, Newtown. About a third of all the people who die in the region receive help from the hospice.

Wellington City Council city design manager Vida Christeller has previously said the 800-1200 hospital staff who park on the streets every day would be affected the most.

“But when we’re looking at the distribution of those spaces, we will still have enough space within a 10-minute walking distance from the hospital for those staff to continue to park – they’ll just have to walk a bit further.

“On the flip side, it enables residents to be able to park on the streets closer to the hospital and also people visiting the hospital for less than two hours.

“Visitors and people going to appointments [will have] a better chance of being able to find a park.”

Another man who submitted to the council said hospital workers have been “completely forgotten”.

He and his wife both work at the hospital and there were no public transport options from their home to where their daughter attended daycare so, they needed to drive, he said.

“I expect that these changes will discourage more health workers from working in Wellington Hospital. This will exacerbate the already existing workforce issues.

“I am not against these changes going ahead at some point in time, however, this should not be done without an alternative parking option for hospital workers.”

In response to feedback from hospital workers, the council is investigating the legality and possibility of the hospital leasing 50 to 60 on-street parking spaces in the vicinity of Mein St for staff as a transitional measure.

Other residents supported the council’s parking proposal because it provided a reasonable solution for rationing limited parking and Newtown could not “keep bearing the brunt of the hospital not implementing better schemes for workers to get to the hospital”.

There is also pressure on off-street parking.

One patient the Herald has previously spoken to said the underground car park at the hospital was full the last two times she had appointments there.

She spent 20 minutes driving around Newtown before finding a park and then walking 10 minutes to her appointment.

Te Whatu Ora Capital, Coast & Hutt Valley Facilities & Business Services acting director Roger Palairet has said the hospital has implemented a travel action plan to support staff mode shift.

“These, along with more people opting to use more sustainable public or active transport options when appropriate, have helped us improve the parking situation at the hospital,” Palairet said.

“Going forward, we are looking into the feasibility of establishing a multi-level parking building that may have a further positive impact on demand for parking at the hospital.”

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.