The parking party is over for Greymouth

AFTER two years of unchecked parking, a council parking warden was back on the beat in Greymouth this week.

The Grey District Council warden had been diverted to Covidrelated duties since 2020.

It has been a long spell of parking freedom for the CBD, since the first Covid lockdown of March 2020.

The intervening two years have seen the streets lined as people make the most of the situation.

Greymouth Business Promotions Association cochairwoman Justine Donaldson welcomed the warden’s return, but with hesitation.

‘‘On one hand, we want to encourage people in to central Greymouth to stay and shop; we don’t want to see shoppers penalised. And on the other, there are those who take advantage of the parking — including business owners and staff — and park all day.’’

The association would like to see parking times lengthened, she said.

‘‘. . . if you have people from out of town who travel in for a hair appointment, and then want to go shopping, the times can be restrictive.

‘‘We want to encourage shoppers in without the sour taste of being penalised.’’

Another issues was the lack of longterm parking for workers in the town, she said.

Mayor Tania Gibson said the parking issue had always been contentious but it was ‘‘not revenue gathering — it barely covers the expenses’’.

‘‘It ensures that spaces are freed up to be used, and as the situation goes, we can reassess it at a later date. You can definitely see the need for a warden, though we also don’t want to be too hard.

‘‘There were calls for the warden’s return last Christmas, but luckily the Pounamu Pathways site (formerly Revingtons) was released for parking, which helped a lot.’’

Council operations group manager Aaron Haymes said the council was hearing that businesses were frustrated at CBD workers using shortstay parking intended for customers.

‘‘We have let the public know in advance our warden is back to mitigate any surprise infringements.’’ —