Eyes on parking limits

Shoppers who ignore parking time limits may land themselves a fine in the lead up to Christmas.

Waipa¯ District Council will be keeping a close eye on drivers in Cambridge and Te Awamutu to ensure people aren’t parking longer than the time limits allow.

Planning and regulatory manager Wayne Allan said it was important there was good turnover of parking spaces for retailers and shoppers.

“It’s a busy time in our main streets,” Wayne said.

“We all want to do our Christmas shopping and access shops quickly. We need to be considerate of other shoppers and retailers trying to get shoppers through the door.”

Council historically receives a number of parking complaints but active enforcement and sensors make it easier to monitor, Allan said.

“In Cambridge we have sensors installed which alert us when a time limit has been exceeded. At this point we can go out and issue a fine. In Te Awamutu we’ll be actively monitoring the main street.”

Cambridge Chamber of Commerce chief executive Kelly Bouzaid welcomed council being proactive and said there was unanimous support from the business community to increase enforcement.

“Parking has been under growing pressure for some time and with the onset of the festive season it makes sense for council to actively monitor cars,” she said. “There is plenty of parking spaces for everyone. It just may mean we have to walk a little further, use one of the public car parks and be mindful that we need to respect the rules that apply to everyone.”

Council is developing a parking strategy to improve parking across Waipa¯ and ensure current parking is efficiently utilised.

The strategy will identify short-term and long-term goals to ease parking concerns as its towns continue to grow.