KEY POINTS:
Auckland city and district councils are likely to face pressure from their regional overseer to tighten the supply of parking spaces in new property developments such as apartment blocks.
The Auckland Regional Council's transport committee yesterday approved the publication of a draft parking strategy for public consultation over at least the next three months.
It agreed to extend a proposed cut-off point for submissions by at least a month from the end of May, and promised special consultations with community boards and local business organisations, after Councillor Judith Bassett said it risked accusations "of trying to push this through by stealth".
Although the strategy is aimed at giving guidance to the region's territorial authorities, and is not intended as a binding statutory document, it is expected to put them under pressure to restrict parking in areas where public transport improvements offer realistic alternatives to car use and ownership.
It will recommend controls on the supply of public long-stay off-street parking, and reductions in the number of spaces which must be provided for the vehicles of residents and their visitors in high-density developments.
Maximum space limits are even envisaged as public transport accessibility increases.
Council strategy implementation leader Jim Fraser said in a report that parking management was a significant travel demand mechanism for encouraging public transport use, walking and cycling both to and within existing population centres and those identified for new development.
"It is envisaged that as these centres become less car-dependent and public transport-focused, they become safer, more attractive and sustainable," he said.
The draft strategy says minimum parking requirements in new buildings, which vary considerably across the region, may result in an over-supply of space at an unnecessary cost to developers and encourage the use of cars despite the availability of good alternatives.
But it says new growth management measures must be developed evenly across the region so as not to weaken perceived competitive advantages of some areas relative to others.
Councillor Paul Walbran urged caution in restricting spaces available to visitors in high-density developments. Sandra Coney wondered at the effectiveness of parking controls against the tide of imported cars unloaded across the Auckland waterfront, boosting revenue for the council-owned port company in the process.
"I was driving on the waterfront and saw a very large container ship - it was like a scene from a sci-fi movie with all these cars pouring out."
But former transport chairman Joel Cayford said a parking strategy was fundamental to the region's efforts to reduce car use, despite what he alleged was a reluctance by the region's main councils other than Auckland City to impose restraints.
"They fail to recognise that carparking comes first," he said. "Thirty five per cent of the land area of the Auckland region is taken up by roads or places to put cars - so when you have wider roads and lots and lots of cars getting lots of space, buy a car - that's the message."
He said it was time territorial authorities were "brought to heel on this" and called for the parking strategy to be made legally binding.
