The overhaul will also introduce new technology, including virtual parking meters, a new PayStay parking app and licence plate registration requirements. <\/p>\n
Previously free all-day parking areas in and near Kuirau Park, Queens Drive and Hinemaru St will become permit parking only, as the council aims to avoid parking spaces being occupied all day for free. <\/p>\n
The current parking system has had its detractors. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n
Permits for those areas will cost $12 for one day or $25 for two weeks. A month-long permit will cost $50, while a three-month permit will cost $130.<\/p>\n
The same pricing structure will also apply to non-reserved spaces in the Pukuatua St parking building.<\/p>\n
Parking along Tutanekai St, classified as the City Centre Zone, will remain free for the first hour, before increasing to $2 per hour for hours two and three. After three hours, the rate rises to $5 per hour, capped at $29 a day. Drivers will need to register their number plate within 10 minutes of arriving.<\/p>\n
The wider City Zone includes the central city part of Fenton St and all of Amohia St, as well as most of Whakaue St, Pukaki St, Arawa St, Haupapa St, Pukuatua St, Hinemoa St and Eruera St. It is aimed at long-stay customers, with the first three hours costing $2 per hour before increasing to $4 per hour, capped at $26 a day.<\/p>\n
A separate corporate permit system for reserved spaces will operate in the Pukuatua St parking building 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with businesses able to purchase one, two or three-month permits.<\/p>\n
Permit parking will apply from Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, while parking in the two city zones will apply from 9am to 5pm on weekdays and 9am to noon on Saturdays. Parking in those zones will remain free on Sundays.<\/p>\n
Some free parking will remain on the outer fringes of the city centre.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s principal adviser for community safety and regulatory services, Kurt Williams, told councillors targeted feedback had been \u201clargely positive\u201d, particularly around reliability, affordability, the removal of surcharges and transaction fees, and the retention of coin-operated machines.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, the changes are aimed at encouraging improved parking behaviours, such as paying for parking in the first place,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is ultimately what we want to achieve in the areas that require it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rotorua’s new parking meters are coming into effect from July 1. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n
Williams said inner-city workers were \u201cvery important\u201d, but he believed the new system offered a \u201creasonable and cost-effective solution for workers and customers\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said the July 1 rollout could be \u201cfine-tuned\u201d after six months through Long-Term Plan consultation using data and community feedback.<\/p>\n
The council report acknowledged parking changes were a \u201chigh public-interest\u201d issue and carried risks around public response, behaviour uncertainty and financial performance.<\/p>\n
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said more than 85% of submissions received earlier this year supported changes to inner-city parking.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur community was very clear, it was time for a change, and we\u2019re confident we\u2019ve delivered a solution that works for everyone who uses the inner city,\u201d Tapsell said.<\/p>\n
She said the council had \u201cworked hard\u201d to find a \u201cfair, affordable and reliable\u201d system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited to introduce new technology and a range of flexible options to meet the needs of people coming into the city for work, shopping or recreation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tapsell said free parking was \u201cnot sustainable\u201d but affordability, simplicity and customer service had been prioritised.<\/p>\n
All but one councillor endorsed the new structure. Councillor Robert Lee said he could \u201cnot support\u201d the proposal because not enough consideration had been given to business owners.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will continue to be unworkable,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n
New parking fees<\/p>\n
City Centre (Zone 1) Tutanekai St spine and ribs<\/p>\n
Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm, Saturday: 9am-noon, Sunday: free <\/p>\n
First hour free once per day with licence plate registration Hours 2-3: $2 per hour After 3 hours: $5 per hour Maximum daily charge: $29 <\/p>\n
City Zone (Zone 2)<\/p>\n
Monday-Friday: 9am-5pm, Saturday: 9am-noon, Sunday: free <\/p>\n
First 3 hours: $2 per hour After 3 hours: $4 per hour Maximum daily charge: $26 <\/p>\n
Permit parking only zone (city fringes) and Pukuatua St parking building <\/p>\n
Monday-Friday: 9am-3pm, Saturday and Sunday: free <\/p>\n
Pukuatua St parking building (reserved spaces)<\/p>\n
Corporate Parking available: 24 hours a day, Monday-Sunday <\/p>\n
First vehicle costs: Additional vehicle costs: <\/p>\n
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.<\/p>\n
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The overhaul will also introduce new technology, including virtual parking meters, a new PayStay parking app and licence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,95,63441,1873,13849,26519,4731,87156,1866,71,15902,5832,661,2374,117,111,43,139,69,5256,30205,17096,90091,1327,6211,27051,1680,4478],"class_list":["post-437427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-and","tag-approve","tag-charges","tag-citys","tag-councillors","tag-days","tag-endorsed","tag-find","tag-from","tag-innercity","tag-july","tag-major","tag-meeting","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-overhaul","tag-parking","tag-paying","tag-permit","tag-rotorua","tag-system","tag-themselves","tag-wednesday","tag-workers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437427","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=437427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}