The Hauraki District Council has proposed changes to some of its bylaws, which could add time limits to town centre parking and affect heavy vehicle drivers.
The council has opened feedback on three potential changes to its bylaws across the district.
One of these is the traffic and parking bylaw, which applies to all district roads other than state highways.
One proposed change to the bylaw is to create parking time limits in Waihi and Paeroa town centres between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.
The council said on its website that there had been complaints from the community about people parking all day in the town centre.
The HC Post visited local businesses in the Waihi town centre to ask about their reaction to the proposed time limit, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The first said she had often noticed people parking for very long periods of time in front of her store.
She said local customers tended not to come into stores if there was not parking directly outside, and would instead opt to come back another day.
She thought the parking time limits would help these locals find parks more easily.
She said she was "keen" for the rules to change, but was wary because it was "only a proposal" at this stage.
Another business representative said he did not think the proposal would make a difference.
"Unless they [the council] have someone to enforce it, which they won't do that, then it's pointless.
"I can't imagine locals would pay any attention to it. Maybe the holidaymakers [would]."
He said locals already took it on themselves not to hold up spaces.
"I don't really notice it [a parking issue] unless it's the same vehicle day in and day out - we [locals] know not to park outside shops."
Another business employee said she was "shocked" by the proposal, as she had never noticed an issue with people parking in the town centre for long periods.
Other than "maybe the odd one," she said it was not an issue for the store.
She said parking in general was an issue, specifically that there were not enough spaces available.
"Parking is a problem - there is never enough parking... I just don't know if that's [time limits] the problem."
When asked to address these comments from business representatives, mayor Adams told the HC Post the council had "different issues with parking in the three main town centres of the district" and had "fielded many calls and emails about these".
Adams said if the time limit was implemented, the council would "look into what and how will be the best way to enforce this if an honesty approach isn't working".
"The best way to find a solution to these issues is to hear from the communities about which option suits them best," Adams said.
"Once we have all this information we can make the decisions that best fit our communities."
Another proposed change to the traffic and parking bylaw is to prevent heavy vehicles from turning on a specific section of a Waihi road.
Heavy vehicles would no longer be allowed to turn left from Waitawheta Road onto Pukekauri Road, or turn right from Pukekauri Road onto Waitawheta Road.
The council said their modelling showed "this turn cannot be achieved without crossing the centre line for heavy vehicles, which presents safety issues".
A police spokesperson said: "Police support any effort to improve road safety and reduce the risk of harm in our communities.
"Our message to those operating heavy vehicles is the same to all drivers - police want everyone to arrive alive so always drive to the road rules and be a courteous driver," the spokesperson said.
