Parking plans draw criticism from business centre
Businesses have cried foul over a New Plymouth District Council plan to lease out on-street parking following the closure of the largest car park building in the city.
Car parks on several main streets in the central business district are set to be changed to lease parks to try and partly make up for the loss of the Downtown car park.
The car park, which closed in December because of earthquake risk, had 140 leased spaces and 125 for the public.
On Tuesday, the council’s strategy and operations committee will make a decision on whether to add 45 lease parks across the Molesworth St car park, Courtenay St, Powderham St and Devon St East.
On Powderham St, the proposal is to take 18 metered spaces and change 14 to lease parks, with the other four becoming free for periods of up to two hours.
Of 13 submissions on the proposal for Powderham St, near the Dawson St intersection, 12 were opposed.
The Powderham Business Centre houses multiple offices, and Helen Frank, manager of Alzheimer’s Taranaki, said parking had always been an issue for clients.
‘‘If they have to walk further afield chances are they won’t come. That’s the worry for us – they’re going to put off getting the help they need.’’
Across the hallway, Agnes Lehrke, from Grey Power, said parking should not be taken away from the elderly and given to business people who can walk.
‘‘I agree with all the people that say this is a slap in the face of the elderly people,’’ Lehrke said.
‘‘Many of us will have to vacate the building and find another site. We must be where there are parks.’’
Wayne Parker, of Naki Labour Hire, said his main concern was for the elderly and the counselling clients who frequent the building.
‘‘The Business centre require these 14 on-street parking spaces to stay, as there are enough stressful people that come into to access our services,’’ he submitted to council.
Centre owner Marsh Kibby said he thought many of the tenants had been attracted to the building because of the parking, both on-site and on-street.
There were also 13 therapists on site dealing with everything from mild to severe and acute mental health issues, and access is important for their clients’ wellbeing.
St Joseph’s Church also objected, submitting to the council that it would cause issues with weekday funerals or services.
‘‘Parking is a real challenge now that the Downtown car park is no longer available, and we already have considerable issues with people from the courts taking our private car parks. Removing the onstreet carparks will exacerbate this issue.’’
Baker Staples Tilly Rodway was supportive of the change, noting that the Powderham St car parks were rarely used daily.
‘‘The only time this could potentially be a problem is with the Catholic Church being in this area when funerals etc are taking place.
‘‘We would be interested in leasing some of these spaces as our business grows and with more staff requiring car parks.’’
The report to councillors said the average occupancy of the 18 Powderham St spaces is 22 per cent. Apart from ‘‘infrequent short duration peaks in demand’’, leaving four of the 18 parks as two-hour parks will meet the need, the report said.
The council will make a decision at Tuesday’s meeting.
NPDC has said it is still working through options for the Downtown car park.