Problems with disability parks
Cigarette butts are not biodegradable and take up to five years to break down.
Outdoor smoking bans can help to reduce the amount of cigarette butt litter. Let’s keep our fantastic beaches clean and healthy places for us all to enjoy.
Support for smokefree beach policy would contribute towards the National Smokefree Aotearoa by 2025 goal. I write regarding your front page story (June 23) that quotes Lydia Jackson on the subject of Porirua car parking, and disability parking in particular: ‘‘. . . car parks in the CBD that are designated for disabled users are not practical or sized correctly.’’
There are international standards for car parking spaces, which include the length and width of the space, width of the lanes between parking spaces (smaller the spaces, wider the lanes, and vice versa), and frequency of visits (one hour parking spaces are larger than allday spaces). Disability parking spaces are wider, longer and have more height clearance.
Most councils in New Zealand adopt the Australian standards, and a few the European Union
standard. Porirua City Council has supposedly adopted the Australian standard, but many spaces do not comply, which the council management is fully aware of.
For example, when the council created the parking area on the former Cobb & Co/Challenge site, the width of the lanes closest to the ANZ Bank were made too narrow, making it difficult to get in, and especially get out of the ANZ spaces when the council parking spaces nearest ANZ are in use.
I was advised no-one, except me, has ever raised car park space sizes as an issue. Well now I know there are at least two of us.
I’m not sure why the council goes through the motions of adopting standards, other than that presumably it justifies a need for councillors and managers to visit other councils in New Zealand, or even better, overseas.
The council has adopted international standard on speed bumps/humps, the Watts Profile, but doesn’t comply with the profile/target speed measures, signage, lighting or road marking components of the standard. If you want to see good compliance with car park spacing and speed bump standards and superior road and footpath maintenance, visit the Kapiti Coast.
Councillors think reducing the number of Cobham Court car park spaces by 29 is a good idea,
because the remaining spaces will have parking meters to increase turnover and reduce stays. How does that help CBD businesses to attract customers?