Days numbered for some car parks

Twenty-six illegally-operated car parks in central Christchurch have shut down following pressure from the city council.

However, 68 unconsented car parks are still operating.

Late last year, the Christchurch City Council identified 95 temporary off-street car parks that were operating without the necessary resource consent. Owners were sent letters warning them to either cease their operations or apply for a resource consent.

They had until April 30 to comply or the council could issue a $300 fine and an abatement notice to cease the operation.

Council regulatory compliance head Tracey Weston this week said 26 car parks had closed and another 19 had applied for a consent. One had so far been successful in gaining a consent.

No fines or abatement notices had been issued. Weston said council staff were yet to visit the 50 sites that had not closed or applied for a consent to verify if they were still operating.

Applying for a consent cost a minimum of $4000, but the final charge could exceed that amount, depending on the time required to process the application, Weston said.

The council’s crackdown on the temporary car parks was part of its wider ‘‘vacant sites programme’’, which aimed to spur on development of vacant central city land.

In January 2020, there was nearly 70 hectares of vacant land in central Christchurch.

Central City Business Association chairwoman Annabel Turley earlier said she was worried having fewer car parks would give people an excuse not to come into the city.