Housing rules blamed for congestion on school street
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
A councillor says a law change that removed parking requirements for new town houses has worsened congestion around a Lower Hutt street, where school pick-up and drop-off traffic causes gridlock.
Parking changes are coming for Walters and Partridge streets with 10-minute parking zones earmarked for the high-pressure areas around schools.
The Post visited Walters St just before 3pm, when the street’s four schools begin to empty, students spilling onto the shared path. This was widened last year, part of Hutt City Council’s micromobility programme, aiming to improve safety and connections for walkers and cyclists.
This has resulted in a narrower road, which has added to the pressure at crucial times: The Post saw vehicles stopping on double yellow lines, double parking and backing out of driveways.
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“It’s chaotic,” said Barbie Henare, who was waiting outside Naenae Intermediate to collect children for an after school programme.
Henare had silently rejoiced when a car had pulled out of a parking space as she cruised along the street.
“There’s just nowhere to park. It’s worse on rainy days.”
Although she’s seen some dodgy manoeuvres, Henare felt there sometimes wasn’t much choice for drivers.
“I get people stopping on yellow lines. Not because they want to put anyone in harm’s way, but how are you going to get your children, especially when it’s raining?”
Recently, Hutt City councillor Chris Parkin told a council meeting the school community had been supportive of the move to turn seven parking spaces outside the kindergarten into 10-minute zones.
The public was consulted earlier this year, with 95 letters sent to residents. Half the submissions they received opposed the proposal, citing the need to park.
“The main thing we heard from residents was that they wanted to be able to park their vehicles on the street when they owned the house,” Parkin said.
This was a direct consequence of a decision made by the last Government to allow local authorities to scrap car parking mandates for new developments, he said.
The move was welcomed at the time by National’s housing spokesperson Chris Bishop. However, the Government recently signalled it will review the policy.
Parkin said the policy had caused problems on streets where residents, in newer developments without designated parking, had to park their cars on the road.
“Developers making the decision to not provide car parks … that is probably the biggest source of angst within the community,” Parkin said.
“There is an expectation by the public that they can park on the street. [But] we do not have the right to park on the road, if you want a house with a car park, talk to your builder, designer, put that forward.”
Stefanie, who lived at one of the new town houses on Walters St, got a grumpy note when she parked her car on the street recently.
While her rental property has a designated car park, it isn’t ready yet, and until work on it is completed she will have to park on the street.
Usually, she doesn’t have have trouble finding a space, but the note, which told her to improve her parking, has made her mindful of the pressures on the street.
Councillor Glenda Barratt said the parking measures went some way to tackling a “decades-long problem”.
“It should have been addressed many years ago. I can’t tell you the amount of times on Walters St I’ve seen cars double parked.
“I’m in favour. It will upset people in the interim, but we need to get safety measures in place, especially around schools.”
Partridge St in Taitā, was also under pressure at drop-off and pick-up times. With a primary school and a kōhanga reo, the council has decided to introduce three 10-minute zones there, too.
Parent Anita Martell supported the move.
“Parents are parking as close to the gate as they can, which is just creating havoc, and it's not actually really a safe spot.
“I just believe that any child, no matter who they are, should always have a safe passage to and from school.”
The council overwhelmingly adopted the parking limits, with councillor Prabha Ravi the sole voice of opposition.