Footie parents vs council over Wellington parking showdown

Monday, 1 July 2024

Wellington City Council is removing car parks for a new cycleway by Wakefield Park. It has committed to a net zero loss of parks but those who battle for a park for weekend sports are sceptical.

A sportsground between Island Bay and Berhampore has become the latest front in a citywide stoush between a pro-cycle council and people’s need to park.

But, unlike past disputes which have largely been about businesses wanting car parks for their shoppers, this one pits sports families up against cyclists, with the council stuck in the middle as it tries to promote both.

At Wakefield Park, any given weekend morning is a picture of organised chaos as families flock to the four-field park for sports.

Parking was already a hot ticket and now the council is extending its controversial Island Bay cycleway, taking out some of the parking on Adelaide Rd. Work is already under way with a raised pedestrian crossing taking out parks.

The council earlier committed to “zero net” loss of parking but a statement on the current council website limited it to “working with our parks team to look at options for increasing the amount of off-street parking”.

Local ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman, also a soccer dad, with his daughter Sumaya Mohamed, a striker and midfielder in the Island Bay United Seahorse team.

Council spokesman Richard MacLean was certain there would be a “net zero” loss in parking, with more parks added nearby and the final delivery on the promise – more car parks added to an existing off street car park – budgeted and planned for later in 2024.

But those who use the park are sceptical. The first two fathers watching their daughters play football on Sunday that The Post talked to at Wakefield Park said that, if anything, more car parking was needed.

Both were pro-cycling but pointed out that young players were coming from as far away as Upper Hutt or Kāpiti. For them, cycling or public transport was not an option on an early weekend morning.

“There will be hundreds of people coming here from all over Wellington, from the Hutt, from the Kāpiti Coast playing,” said Roger Young.

Wellington City Council is removing car parks for a new cycleway by Wakefield Park. It has committed to a net zero loss of parks.

“Their elderly parents come, their grandparents come to watch. We take these car parks away, they are going to stop coming.”

Local ward councillor Nureddin Abdurahman, also a soccer dad, said there was already a lack of car parking and the council needed to deliver on its “net zero” promise or already-battered trust in the council would fall further.

The council had a “promise” for more cycleways but also a strategy to encourage sports.

“There is no promise for the children to keep sports going,” he said.

Some of the children playing on Sunday travelled more than 50km to play.

“There is no way you can do that distance with kids when you aren’t driving.”

Back in 2018 the council floated a number of routes to connect the Island Bay cycleway to the city. One option, taking it through a neighbouring council golf course, would have not affected parking.

In May 2023 a petition was launched by Wakefield Park users Wellington Olympic Football Club, Island Bay Softball Club, Total Touch, Brooklyn Northern United Football Club, Island Bay United Football Club and Wellington United Football Club encouraging people to make sure the council heard loudly that new car parks should be provided to make up for any lost.

“Not all new car parks will be as convenient and those getting out of cars will have to take care as they cross the inside cycle lane,” the petition to Mayor Tory Whanau said.