Free parking at Hagley Park could be axed

Thursday, 14 December 2023

Fewer free car parks and swapping a chemical used in swimming pools are among the ways Christchurch City Council may slow down rates rises.

According to council staff, if people pay about $4 to park for three hours* in one of the 720 spots in the Botanic Gardens or around Hagley Park, it could generate $2.1 million in revenue.

Switching from CO2 to sodium bi-sulphate would reduce the cost of pool chemicals by $75,000.

In their final briefing of the year on the council’s draft 2024-34 long term plan, councillors heard that staff had trimmed the projected rates increase for the 2024/25 financial year by 2.1% in the last week.

It now sits at 11.3%, about a quarter of which is due to the cost of building Te Kaha stadium.

The council’s interim chief executive Mary Richardson said although the rates rises “may seem like a shock, it’s actually low in comparison to some of the councils.”

She listed the rises indicated by other councils: 7.5% in Auckland, plus an additional 30% increase in water care bills, 25.5% for Hamilton and between 15-20% for Wellington.

Inflation, interest rates and insurance costs were driving the increases, she said.

Andrew Rutledge, the council’s acting general manager of citizens and community, told The Press on Wednesday that charging for parking around the gardens could help keep rates down.

He said there was a lot of evidence to suggest people were parking there for free, then walking into the city.

“That impacts the use of the gardens. It impacts the cafe operators in the gardens. They get a bit frustrated when they arrive to work at 8am and the car park is nearly full and there’s no one in the gardens,” he said.

He said it wasn’t a punishment, but there were laws prohibiting the council from adding more car parks in Hagley, making it a finite resource. It could offset projects within the park, like the new playground, he said.

Julie Donaldson from Merivale was not happy about the proposal. She worried about the impact on young families who couldn’t afford it.

“It’s like having all the paid parking in town. You stop going to town, you go to the mall instead,” she said.

Jane Gilbert from Ilam uses the park at least once a week for a walk in the gardens and a cup of tea at the cafe. She said having to pay would make her think twice about using the park.

“It’s packed every time we come here. This is just about council wanting to make revenue.”

Staff also considered increasing the hourly cost for council-owned car parks between 90 cents and $1.40 an hour, which combined would offer a $1m increase in revenue, but ultimately recommended against it.

They also recommended against a $1.5m funding boost to Orana Wildlife Park, but were in favour of forgiving a $2m loan made to the Isaac Theatre Royal in 2013 to support earthquake repairs.

The time for councillors to debate and vote on the draft is scheduled for February 14. The final version won’t be approved until June, by which point it will have gone out for about a month of public consultation.

* Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said the charge would be $4 per hour. (Updated 9am, December 14, 2023)