Donna Taylor, who works in the Pukaki Centre building on Pukaki St, said she was \u201cbaffled\u201d by the decision amid a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might seem small in isolation,\u201d she said, \u201cbut over the weeks and the months, it becomes another financial burden for us as working people who are simply trying to get to our job and do our job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Annual costs for workers using the new permit zones would be about $650 on a fortnightly permit, $600 on a monthly permit or about $520 on the three-month option.<\/p>\n
Taylor said she could likely absorb the cost but worried about others.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everybody is in as privileged a position as I am, like some of those in hospo or retail. People can\u2019t afford parking on top of petrol.\u201d<\/p>\n
All-day free parking on Queens Drive, leading into Government Gardens, will become permit-only from July 1. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n
She also warned that higher costs could push workers to reduce spending in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor every additional dollar spent on parking, that could be a dollar less in a local business,\u201d she said. \u201cThe small businesses, they\u2019re already struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Staff at Lime Caf\u00e9 on Whakaue St, where parking is currently a mix of free and paid spaces, welcomed the introduction of new pay machines, which could improve reliability, as existing machines were prone to error. But concerns remained.<\/p>\n
Staff members will likely need to use permit parks, with surrounding streets becoming permit-only or Zone 2 \u2013 costing $2 an hour for the first three hours, then $4 an hour after that, with a maximum daily charge of $26.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of still on the downside rather than the upside, to be completely honest,\u201d said John Paul Tolentino. <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything is too much already. It\u2019s another payment on something else you want to pay for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Safal Purja said he doubted the changes would significantly affect short-stay customers.<\/p>\n
Lime Cafe’s John Paul Tolentino is unsure if Rotorua’s upcoming parking changes will bring positive change. Photo \/ Ben Fraser<\/p>\n
\u201cThey only really stay for an hour and then go, and not much of that is changing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd plenty of people enjoy and rely on the free parking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other workers spoken to by Local Democracy Reporting this week described the changes as \u201cstink\u201d, \u201ctypical\u201d and \u201cfrustrating\u201d.<\/p>\n
All but one of Rotorua\u2019s councillors endorsed the plan at a meeting last week. <\/p>\n
Tapsell told Local Democracy Reporting the council had received a clear message from the wider community that the system needed an overhaul.<\/p>\n
She urged sceptics and critics to \u201cgive this a chance\u201d. <\/p>\n
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo \/ Laura Smith<\/p>\n
\u201cThese changes have come from feedback from the community, who wanted better, and a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure it is not only practical but also affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The plan received \u201clargely positive\u201d feedback from stakeholders, including the Rotorua Business Chamber and its members, Parksyde seniors, RotoruaNZ, Rotorua Library, Rotorua Police, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Rotorua (mobility) Access Group and some unnamed inner-city businesses \u2013 according to council reporting.<\/p>\n
Tapsell said she understood concerns from inner-city workers who previously relied on free parking, but said feedback had supported permits as a preferred option.<\/p>\n
Hinemaru St is a popular all-day free parking spot for inner-city workers but will become permit-only from July 1. Photo \/ Mathew Nash<\/p>\n
\u201cThe parking service isn\u2019t here to make money. What\u2019s collected is reinvested back, and we\u2019ve ensured there\u2019s a range of parking options, including the new permits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The permit system would cost about $10\u2013$12.50 a week, depending on the option chosen, with the cheapest equating to about 34 cents per hour.<\/p>\n
Tapsell also confirmed there will still be 653 free parks available on the outer fringes, including parts of Lake Rd, Hinemaru St, Whakatau St, Pukuatua St, Eruera St, Hinemoa St, and Hatupatu Drive. <\/p>\n
She said bringing parking management back in-house would deliver longer-term benefits, including improved data use and flexibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019ll be managing it in-house, we will actually have access to this data to make informed decisions and changes if needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Parking services were previously contracted to i-Park.<\/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":"Separate paid parking zones will operate in the city centre with hourly charges, capped rates and time limits.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447695,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,9092,534,8172,4500,45609,3039,4975,42,10934,43,5256,30205,28160,1327,26699,44160,56661,40,38,41,39,11744],"class_list":["post-447694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-after","tag-against","tag-amid","tag-backlash","tag-changes","tag-defending","tag-defends","tag-free","tag-headlines","tag-mayor","tag-news","tag-overhaul","tag-parking","tag-reduction","tag-rotorua","tag-spaces","tag-tania","tag-tapsell","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-upcoming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447694","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=447694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}