Councillors' eleventh-hour effort to save Wellington's free weekend parking fails

Wednesday, 29 August 2018

Despite an eleventh-hour bid to save free parking on a Sunday, the weekend charges were given the green light, and will start on September 8.

A last-ditch to effort by city councillors to save Wellington's free weekend parking has failed.

Wellington City Council rubber-stamped a decision to scrap free parking in the central city, which was made by its city strategy committee last week.

Before the vote on Wednesday, a number of councillors tried to pass a 'compromise' that would see free parking all day Sunday or until midday.

The amendments put forward by Andy Foster and Sarah Free were supported by Simon Woolf, Nicola Young, Malcolm Sparrow and Diane Calvert , but they did not have the numbers to get it across the line.

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Councillors Sarah Free and Andy Foster proposed amendments that would allow free parking on a Sunday but were outvoted.

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Councillor Simon Woolf expressed concern that CBD businesses were not fully supporting weekend parking charges.

Foster argued the free parking decision was rushed through and buried in the Long-Term Plan.

There was no problem with car park turnover, so it came down to a revenue making exercise. The council would make more revenue than it projected, so it should allow free parking on a Sunday, he said.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester remained staunch to his user-pays for parking proposal.

'This will make it consistent with many other cities.'

Foster pointed out it was not retailers paying a levy that allowed for free parking, it was commercial property owners.

In the past week, the Chamber of Commerce had told him it was not so sure it was a good idea, he said.

Woolf said the consultation process was flawed and the numbers did not stack up. He was concerned that businesses were not fully supporting the charges.

He visited 25 retailers on Lambton Quay and Willis St and only one supported it, he said.

Free said she supported the vote for parking charges in the Long-Term Plan, but changed her mind after reading the 600 submissions opposed to it.

'Every single major city has some concessions on a Sunday,' she said.

Peter Gilberd said the council needed to diversify its funding and encourage people to take public transport, and user-pays was the best way to achieve that.

Iona Pannett said it was one sustainable initiative that would help make the city resilient to climate change.

Chris Calvi-Freeman, who holds the transport portfolio, told councillors the charges would relieve the CBD retailers of the levy burden, prevent ratepayers from taking up the burden, encourage people to think about their travel choices, free up space in the CBD and reduce congestion.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester remained staunch to his proposal, which was part of his plan to keep rates affordable and was included in the council's Long Term Plan 2018-2028 (LTP), which was approved in June.

A retail and business advisory group had supported the change and it was their suggestion that created some impetus, he said.

After the meeting, Lester issued a statement saying parking fees were always going to be unpopular but the council believed there would be positive effects.

'Anecdotally, people avoid the CBD at the weekend because parking is hard to find in high-demand areas. People are spending a lot of time driving around just looking for a park,' he said.

'Tens of thousands of vehicles are coming in to Wellington at the weekend and many of the out-of-towners' parking is subsidised by Wellington ratepayers.'

Fewer cars in the CBD would mean fewer carbon emissions and a more liveable central city, he said.

The new arrangement will start on September 8, following a final vote (11-3) in favour of the new model. Foster, Sparrow and Woolf opposed the decision.

The council also approved a fee increase to coupon and parking permits.