Paid parking hours set to be extended

Wellington City Council is proposing to extend paid parking hours in the CBD by two hours every night, as it continues its push to reduce the number of private vehicles on the capital’s streets.

The change would apply to about 3300 central city parking spaces, and is another clear message to motorists to leave their cars at home as the council looks to free up road space and manage demand.

If approved by councillors next week as part of the council’s 10-year plan, paid parking hours would be extended from 6pm to 8pm from Sunday to Thursday, and from 8pm to 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

It is the latest move from transport planners to discourage driving in the city’s CBD, on top of proposed hourly parking rate increases, a possible congestion charge, and the planned removal of cars from the city’s main thoroughfare.

The council is also investigating the possibility of making the entire central city fossil fuel-free by 2025.

Nick Mills, whose family owns several Wellington eateries and venues, said he was stunned by the proposal, especially as hospitality businesses were ‘‘trying to hold on’’ after the coronavirus pandemic.

‘‘Why are they trying to hold the city from growing? It’s just ludicrous. They do everything they can to stop people getting into the city. It will just make people think twice about coming into town.’’

Meeting documents for the recent regulatory processes committee meeting said it was the council’s position that ‘‘people who use parking spaces should contribute more towards the overall cost of providing on-street parking’’.

The proposed change was one of several parking policy updates approved by the committee this month.

If approved by the full council, the new hours will begin on July 1.

Other changes include increasing weekend parking rates from $2.50 to $3 per hour, and increasing hourly weekday rates by 50c, to between $3 and $5.

Daily coupon fees will increase from $12 to $18, while monthly coupon fees will rise from $200 to $300 and parking trade coupons will also jump from $12 to $18.

The meeting documents said the changes aligned with the council’s new parking policy, which aimed to open up more road space for walkways, cycleways and bus lanes.

‘‘While the number of parks is reducing, the demand for parking space and the cost of maintaining them is increasing,’’ the documents said.

Wellington Mayor Andy Foster said he did not want to comment on the proposal to extend parking hours until he had received further information.

While the proposals are causing concern among affected businesses, Dr Morten Gjerde, from Victoria University’s faculty of architecture and design innovation, said disincentives for driving could in fact be good for businesses.

He pointed to the example of Copenhagen in Denmark, where architect Jan Gehl had been leading the push for a reduction in car parks.

‘‘That’s been really, really successful in making streets more viable and friendly for other modes of transport,’’ Gjerde said.

‘‘Denmark is a different context, but there was bleating from certain people about losing car parks, and it has not proven to diminish business at all.

‘‘It’s actually improved business propositions because it’s easier to get around, and it’s easier to get between businesses.’’