WCC’s proposed rates trade-off - suburban parking meters

Tuesday, 13 February 2024

A Wellington City Council proposal to rake in more revenue by putting parking meters in suburban shopping centres has retailers nervous and locals worried.

Bike commuters are fuming, meanwhile, about a proposed new parking fee in the CBD.

Parking meters in centres including Island Bay, Kilbirnie, Newlands, Johnsonville and Tawa are on the table, at a rate of $5 an hour.

The council is also investigating the feasibility of charging for parking at sports and recreational facilities and introducing time restrictions and enforcement of them at venues where time limits don’t already apply.

In Tawa residents and business owners spoken to were concerned about the impact on access and the knock-on effect it may have for commuter parking at the train station, with more competition for the free park and ride spaces.

The proposals come as the council looks for ways to keep the next rates increase below 20%. Parking revenue is the council’s biggest revenue earner outside rates, collecting more than $20 million in fees and fines in 2018.

Shane Julius said people were struggling with the cost of living already.

'And now they want to charge you to come to Tawa? A lot of people come here because it's easier for them than having to go to Cobham Court and pay for parking there as well.

'They (the council) are doing it because they're in trouble.'

Embrace Design owner Henri Hudson said it was 'a very strange place to try and pull money out of.'

'It will make it harder to compete with town, because people come from Porirua and from the city sometimes because parking is free and it's easier to get here.“

He was also worried about business owners being able to get to work, with any free parking spots likely to be under pressure from shoppers wanting to avoid parking meters.

In Kilbirnie, Wellington Sewing Centre manager Jo Morris said it would have an impact on access to her shop.

'We've already lost a lot of car parks when the cycleway was built. So to now charge for the rest of them is pretty mean.

'We do have limited private parking but most people drive here because they might go to Pak’nSave as well. Many of our customers drive to us because they need the car to carry a sewing machine or other equipment.

'It just feels like another nail in the coffin.'

Island Bay, local resident Warwick Silvester said it was a pity, but it was also inevitable.

“If we actually get better and act in a more informed way about our public transport, we wouldn't need to bring all these cars into the main centre. There has got to be a better way of handling public transport.'

He believed Island Bay was picked because of its socio-economic position.

'I think they know Island Bay can pay.'

Paekawakawa/Southern ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman said the charges made no sense.

Island Bay already had a fractious relationship with the council and residents felt their trust had been breached over the cycleway.

Introducing $5 parking in the suburban centre would only aggravate people and increase tensions, Abdurahman said.

“I don’t even know what logic is behind it. The community shops are already doing it tough.”

The proposal for parking charges seemed like a result of council staff running the numbers without considering the human element and the effects on local businesses.

He couldn’t understand why the proposals hadn’t been run past councillors in advance, describing the Long-Term Plan process as “a mess”.

Bike riders are furious, meanwhile, at plans to introduce a $2.50 an hour parking charge for central city motorbike parking bays.

The plan is outlined in the councils draft 2024-34 Long Term Plan, due to be voted on later this week. The council says the charge allows it to “better manage high demand” and high non-compliance.

Riders say charging parking fees is a slap in the face and goes against the council’s own sustainability goals.

Joshua Dorman commutes to Wellington each day from Porirua. Like many people, he said he chose to ride a motorcycle because of cost of living pressures. It was cheaper, “greener” and helped reduce traffic congestion.

“Whereas, places like Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney (in some areas) offer free parking to motorcycles, they’re [Wellington City Council] making the city more and more unliveable.”

He noted Brisbane council’s website openly stated the positive impact motorcycles and scooters had on congestion and actively encouraged their use, including providing free parking areas.

“We are not a burden on the road, nor do we take up a lot of space. Optics wise, it’s a pretty poor decision,” Dorman said.

Karori scooter rider Nick Webster agreed. He had been commuting since 2019, largely due to a less than reliable and “expensive” bus service.

Webster said motorcycling and scooter riding stacked up environmentally – with his CO2 emissions equal or less to that of 19 bus passengers – and it was cheap; he spends $9 a fortnight on petrol.

Fellow scooter rider Martin Svehla has been commuting for 17 years, but said he would have to re-think coming into the CBD if fees were introduced.

“At $2.50 per hour, 3 days per week, 48 weeks per year that'd be $2,880 per year for me, which is a massive disincentive to riding my scooter in.

“I respect that the WCC needs revenue to help pay for things like water, but I really hope they don't do it by introducing a new charge for motorcyclists, because they're actually a big plus for the city. It'd also be out of step with most other places in the country too, as far as I'm aware.'

Hamish Edgar was less polite, saying the proposal was “just another great reason to not travel into the city.

“High winds blowing bikes over while parked and no tie-down anchors anywhere, bikes apparently being stolen regularly and now this?

“Parking revenues up, commercial revenues down. They're chasing pennies and losing pounds …”

Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said most dedicated motorcycle parking areas operated at capacity in the central city and those using them did not contribute to the cost of providing them, “unlike the private motor vehicles in the city where parkers are charged to use on-street parking.”

_– _Additional reporting Conor Kell and Erin Gourley__