Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
$191,000 in parking tickets
Despite a move to one-hour free parking in two town centres, the Marlborough District Council’s parking fund still hit a purple patch last year – mainly through tickets.
The ‘‘positive’’ figures come amid claims of ‘‘overzealous’’ parking wardens in Picton even though residents say the loss of international tourists mean there is plenty of parking.
The council introduced the one-hour free parking initiative in October last year after a successful two-hour free trial that started in lockdown. It was seen as a way of getting shoppers into town post-Covid to support businesses.
The council’s latest financial report – for the first five months of the financial year (July 1 – November 30) – show the onehour free parking has led to a loss in paid parking revenue of $228,000.
But the report showed this was offset by $260,000 made through leased car parks and parking tickets, with parking tickets bringing in $191,000.
The council was still predicting an overall revenue drop in its parking account of $636,000 by the end of June, when free parking was set to end.
If councillors decided to continue free parking, it could mean a 1 per cent rates increase to balance the account’s deficit.
Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said at an assets and services committee meeting last week, when presented with the latest report, the council did not want to rely on parking fines to balance out its free parking.
Councillor Michael
Fitzpatrick said councillors only had to ‘‘read the paper this morning’’ to see that ratepayers agreed, referring to a Local Democracy Reporting article on the ‘‘overzealous’’ wardens in Picton.
Hostel owners Sheira and Howard Hudson emailed the council requesting it to take action after watching two wardens chalking tyres in front of their business, ‘‘even though there were more gaps than cars’’.
They said visitors often got upset their car tyres had been chalked – a sign parking wardens were on the hunt for meter cheaters, despite the dive in demand for parks.
Councillor Mark Peters said the council had funded part of the free parking shortfall from its emergency reserves fund.
Free parking was set to end on June 30 to give residents and businesses time to decide where the money came from, with their decision worked into the 2021-31 long-term plan review.
Feedback on the plan could be submitted from April 1.
Peters said it was important that councillors were provided ‘‘the whole picture’’ on the parking account before the review.
Deputy Mayor Nadine Taylor said the goal was to return the account to ‘‘neutral’’, or where its revenue balanced expenses.
‘‘[The parking account] shouldn’t be profit making, and it’s not, but it does ... need to support itself,’’ she said at the meeting.