Stuff
Palmerston North fee and all day stay parking could be reviewed.
Parking in downtown Palmerston North is under review, but the city council isn’t saying much about it.
The council’s annual review of fees and charges ruled out any significant changes to paid parking after prices increased in the year 2021/22.
That was when the council proposed extending paid parking to Sundays and late night parking, and was forced to back down by public opposition.
Chief planning officer David Murphy said at a council meeting earlier in March that a parking framework was being developed, which could include looking at time restrictions and the provision for people to pay and park all day.
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Meanwhile, Palmy Bid, the central city’s district business improvement group, is surveying its members about possible technical changes to how the meters are used.
Chief executive Rob Campbell said Palmy Bid acted as a conduit between the municipality and nearly 1,000 central city businesses and property owners as part of an early “test of the temperature” about possible changes.
The member survey asks whether parking time in the city center should be limited.
DAVID UNWIN/Stuff
Entrepreneurs are asked how the parking regime in Palmerston North can be improved.
There is a demand to reduce the number of parking meters that can accept coins, and to introduce PayWave as the meters need to be replaced.
Both developments can reduce the need for maintenance and the risks of vandalism.
An even bigger change could be a move to “pay per board” instead of paying for a specific parking spot.
That system would allow people to park in a zone, register their license plate number and pay for parking time within the zone. They could move their car to different places in the zone until their time was up.
The survey was open until April 5, and Campbell said he expected the results to help inform proposals the city council would make for further public consultation.
Stuff has requested further information from the municipality about the reasons for the parking test and its scope.
The email response only stated that a report would be forthcoming in April.