Cambridge retailers will decide later today if they want a two hour parking trial introduced before Christmas.
Council says one hour limits in the main street and greater enforcement encourages quick parking turnover. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Cambridge Chamber of Commerce pressured Waipā District Council last week following its decision to relax parking times in Te Awamutu after approaches from Grey Power, Te Awamutu Business Chamber and the Te Awamutu-Kihikihi Community Board.
Kelly Bouzaid
Chief executive Kelly Bouzaid was furious and asked the council for a quick response saying she and her members had been agitating for parking changes for months yet the calls in Te Awamutu were only recent.
“The perception of selective treatment between our towns undermines the principle of fairness that Waipā District Council has always emphasised,” Bouzaid told The News.
She said retailers were feeling disgruntled and disappointed.
In February she told a public meeting while there were 3000 public car parks in Cambridge, the town had more than 3000 workers utilising them.
Angle parking was recently introduced in Kirkwood Street, Cambridge to create more spaces. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
More than 1000 business employees were also parking in town, she said.
A year ago, the council clamped down on motorists who ignored time limits and put a parking warden on the beat in both towns using a new digital ticketing system rather than chalk on tyres.
Wardens scan vehicle number plates and issue a ticket on the spot with motorists getting an immediate notification. The wardens have issued a record number of fines last financial year.
Parking in Waipā is free but there are time restrictions in place in the Te Awamutu and Cambridge central business districts from 8am – 6pm Monday to Saturdays.
Bryan Hudson
Transportation manager Bryan Hudson said Cambridge retailers should think very carefully before adopting the same two-hour time limit in the town as Te Awamutu had done.
“Cambridge, being bigger, busier and with a faster-growing population, has significantly more parking pressure in its CBD than Te Awamutu experiences.
“It also has added pressure from the larger number of out of town visitors and tourists, which means there is more need for quicker turnovers in parking.
“Extending the parking time limits in Cambridge would likely shrink the availability of free spaces to an unacceptable level,” he said.
“While extending parking time restrictions does allow more time for people to shop, socialise and run errands, it also means there are likely to be fewer free spaces available at any given time, and therefore can lead to more traffic congestion as people drive around searching for an available parking spot.”
As part of the Cambridge Town Plan refresh five years ago, the council developed an approach to actively manage a high turnover of cars.
A retailers’ meeting is being held later today to discuss extending the trial into the Cambridge CBD.
“We have provided this background and advice in terms of the impact on available parking to the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, and if there is wide support for a trial taking the above issues into consideration, then we could also conduct a trial in Cambridge,” Hudson told The News.
Council says one hour limits in the main street and greater enforcement encourages quick parking turnover. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
