Hamilton councillors vote against free CBD parking
Hamilton councillors have reversed a trial free-parking period arguing convenience not cost is the major factor for drivers.
Councillors have reversed an earlier decision and voted against extending the CBD Saturday free-parking trial.
Roadside parking in the CBD on Saturdays will again cost $2 an hour from next month.
Approving an amendment to keep free parking would have cost the council $300,000 in lost revenue and was voted against by councillors who acknowledged that “free parking has a cost”.
Councillor Daphne Bell said free parking has numerous costs. “I always put ‘free parking’ in inverted commas because there is a cost. There’s a cost to ratepayers. There’s an enforcement cost and there’s the revenue lost.”
Most councillors noted CBD parking was cheap compared to other New Zealand cities and that it was more important that parking is convenient and easy to find.
Councillor Pippa Mahood noted that Wellington has recently increased its parking charges to $5 an hour while Auckland charged $9 an hour. “We are the cheapest city in the country when it comes to parking. $2 per hour is very reasonable.”
However, councillors Gordon Chesterman, Angela O’Leary, and Ewan Wilson were against paid parking on Saturday. They argued that paid parking sends the wrong message and does not encourage activity in the CBD.
Mr Chesterman said paid parking is another reason for shoppers to choose Chartwell or The Base instead of coming to town. “Free parking would come at a cost of $300,000. I actually think it’s an investment of $300,000 to revitalise our CBD.”
There had been some suggestion council would moot extending paid parking to include Sunday. Councillor Dave Macpherson dismissed this along with the possibility of increasing paid parking rates and said council was not “trying to soak car drivers”.
Mayor Julie Hardaker said the six-month trial had failed and supported reinstating parking charges.
“Free parking hasn’t delivered as we expected it would. The evidence we have suggests that in many instances staff in the retail establishments have used the free parks. Free parking isn’t the driver, convenience is.”
The last Saturday for free parking in the CBD will be May 28.
