Queenstown parking consultation

Residents, retailers, business people and ratepayers are all being asked to have their say on Queenstown Parking Consultation now underway, Queenstown Lakes District Council transportation planning manager Denis Mander said.

“When travelling into and around central Queenstown we need to change the way we think about vehicle use. When we use our car to travel into town to work or shop or play, we each add to the increasing traffic congestion and the environmental effects of car use,’ Mr Mander said.

Queenstown already had a bus system with more extensive and frequent services than most other districts of similar size.

“Further improving our public transport system is one critical incentive to changing the way we get around. An improved, timely, affordable public transport system will not only encourage less car use but it's also a sustainability consideration and, in the current economic climate, a serious cost consideration,” he said.

Easy, accessible, free, all day parking offered no incentive to make a change to public transport.

“Reviewing the way parking is currently managed and making some effective changes is another way to encourage less car use and reduce growth and delays our local roads,” he said.

The focus of this review was on improving the management of short stay (less than 4 hours) parking - to ensure the right parking controls are in the right places, and to improve the ease with which people coming into town - to shop, to do business and enjoy the visitor activities - could find parking.

”Now's also a good time to think about some of the longer term directions for parking management in Queenstown,” Mr Mander said.

As bus services to the centre improved, transport options for many people would also improve, particularly for those who commute regularly to the central area.

“As this occurs, more parking spaces will be able to be prepared for short term parking rather than commuter parking. This change will need to be accompanied by management of parking in the fringe areas to ensure that residential areas are not 'parked out' by commuters.,” he said.

Some of the longer terms questions the community was being asked to consider included:

Should we introduce more pay and display?
How quickly should unrestricted on-street parking be replaced by time restricted parking?
How good will a bus system need to be if it is to provide a good alternative to coming into the town by car?
 

The council was generally proposing more intensive controls (P5s, P10s and P30s) at the core of the central area where demand for kerbside parking was at its highest.

“These controls, together with good enforcement, mean that the chances of finding a park in these areas for a short stay are improved,” Mr Mander said.

The consultation was for everyone from taxi drivers to people that relied on free all day parking.

“A brochure will be distributed in the Mirror Newspaper tomorrow (Wednesday) and a fuller discussion document will be available on the council website from tomorrow or at the Gorge Road council offices,” Mr Mander said.

The changes proposed also needed to be supported by changes to council bylaws. Submissions would therefore be heard by a panel of Councillors, who would then make recommendations on changes to the council.

Submissions closed on 31 October 2008.