Editorial: Parking scheme popular

Free time-monitored parking will start in the city centre from Monday.

You asked for it Rotorua, and now you're getting it.

From Monday, we will have free time-monitored parking in our central city.

It will come at a cost when the loss of parking money is taken into account, but it's a move residents have been crying out for since the success of a 12-day trial in the lead up to Christmas last year.

This new initiative isn't set in concrete though. Park Rotorua, the name given to our new inner-city free parking, is an 18-month trial but it's hard to imagine the Rotorua District Council would do a u-turn on it.

The free two-hour parking was announced not long before the elections but it wasn't enough of a gift to win former mayor Kevin Winters another three years in the chair. Now the new council can get the credit for the popular decision.

Retailers last year reported the free parking was a huge boost for them and, as silly as it sounds, proved some people were put off coming to the central city because they had to pay a few dollars in the meters.

I was originally sceptical about the true success of the trial, as the 12 days before Christmas was usually mayhem in the central city anyway.

But time will tell and I for one am looking forward to seeing a more vibrant CBD.

We just need to ensure central city businesses don't spoil it for their customers by parking their work cars in the city.