{"id":302704,"date":"2026-02-26T06:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/302704\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T06:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:35:11","slug":"free-parking-to-be-trialled-in-major-city-centre-from-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/302704\/","title":{"rendered":"Free parking to be trialled in major city centre from next month"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rotorua Lakes Council will trial free parking at the city centre’s main parking building from next month.<\/p>\n

By Mathew Nash of Local Democracy Reporting<\/p>\n

The council has also found a new provider for on-street parking machines and software.<\/p>\n

Parking at the Pukuatua St building will be free from March 1 to April 30, in a bid to encourage more inner-city workers to use the underused facility.<\/p>\n

Rotorua Lakes Council district development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston said the two-level building already offered some of the cheapest all-day parking in the city centre but had struggled to attract consistent use.<\/p>\n

“We know inner-city workers have been asking for more affordable, long-term parking options,” Gaston said.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019d like to see the building better used, with locals making the most of the free parking trial and ongoing cheaper parking rates.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Pukuatua St car park in central Rotorua. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The building, which has about 180 spaces, has recently been tidied up and fitted with additional CCTV and improved lighting.<\/p>\n

Gaston said the aim was to encourage drivers to get into the habit of using the facility in the hope of continued use once fees returned.<\/p>\n

From May, parking charges will revert to the current rate of $1 an hour, with the remaining two hours free. Further reviews are planned before July 1.<\/p>\n

Businesses already leasing spaces in the building will also receive free parking during the trial.<\/p>\n

The trial comes as pressure continues on free parking<\/a> elsewhere in the city, with inner-city workers often competing for limited spaces at locations such as Government Gardens and Kuirau Park.<\/p>\n

Rotorua’s time-limited and metered parking has been fully outsourced to parking provider i-Park since 2018.<\/p>\n

This will change on July 1, with the council confirming Orikan as the city’s new provider of on-street parking machines and software.<\/p>\n

All remaining parking services, such as enforcement and collection, will be brought back under the council\u2019s remit. This follows a decision last May not to renew its partnership with i-Park.<\/p>\n

\"I-Park<\/p>\n

I-Park in Rotorua. (Source: Local Democracy Reporting)<\/p>\n

The fully outsourced parking model often attracted criticism from residents, business owners and community leaders, but Gaston said i-Park had helped modernise the city’s parking systems.<\/p>\n

All parties would work together on a transition plan over the coming months, he said.<\/p>\n

“Creating a vibrant, successful and busy city centre remains a priority for this council.”<\/p>\n

Orikan currently supplies parking systems to several New Zealand centres, including Tauranga, New Plymouth and Hamilton.<\/p>\n

Chief customer officer and managing director for New Zealand Mark Oliver said Orikan aimed to deliver a “seamless and easy-to-use” experience for Rotorua motorists.<\/p>\n

Final details of the council’s proposed parking changes will be confirmed following the conclusion of public consultation.<\/p>\n

Submissions have been sought on issues including parking layouts, fee structures, permit options and the potential removal of coin-operated meters.<\/p>\n

Submissions closed earlier this month and councillors heard from submitters at a hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Views on council proposals varied from those who backed their recommendations to those who suggested no paid parking at all within the city.<\/p>\n

A decision is due in late March.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rotorua Lakes Council will trial free parking at the city centre’s main parking building from next month. By…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,135,1756,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-302704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-politics","11":"tag-tauranga-bay-of-plenty","12":"tag-top-news","13":"tag-top-stories","14":"tag-topnews","15":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}