Te Awamutu Business Chamber and Grey Power have welcomed news they are to be consulted on a proposal to extend parking limits in the rural service town.
Grey Power wants two for one when it comes to parking.
Both organisations are pushing to extend the town’s parking limit from one to two hours, after shoppers and retailers complained that one hour was not enough time to enjoy a coffee or haircut and shop.
Te Awamutu and Kihikihi Community Board chair Ange Holt told members last month that there was a strong feeling against the one-hour limit and wide support to extend parking limits to two hours.
“There is very strong support to go to two hours. The retailers are expressing a real concern around the downturn due to people not being able to have a bite to eat and do a bit of shopping. They are just in and out and leaving,” Holt said.
“So, it’s coming from the retailers, it’s coming from the residents, it’s coming from our elderly.”
Waipā District Council transport manager Bryan Hudson told the board the current time limits had existed for many years.
“There’s certainly nothing wrong with experimenting with having some change as suggested by residents, businesses, the Chamber of Commerce,” he said.
Grey Power wants two for one when it comes to parking.
“We do have to be careful that we don’t say that parking time limits might be causing people to spend less money in town. We know there is an economic downturn which is impacting all retailers and mall spaces, not just where there’s parking time limits of a certain time.
“If we’re going to change time limits then just be aware of some of the issues that might arise. We will get some retailers who really value that fast turnover of parking places, whether they be food shops or other places where people are calling in to drop of things, so they only want a relatively quick time limit.
“We know when the time limits are longer people will stay longer and therefore there will be people driving about the town looking for an empty parking space because there won’t be as many empty parking spaces as we have with the 60-minute time limit.”
Grey Power wants two for one when it comes to parking.
Hudson spoke of the need for a publicity campaign before any changes were carried out.
Te Awamutu councillor Lou Brown suggested retaining a 60-minute parking limit outside takeaways but moving to two hours elsewhere, particularly near the cinema.
“We hadn’t had the problems prior, because we haven’t had the enforcement levels,” he said.
Holt said she would consult with business chamber chief executive Shane Walsh and Grey Power president Michael Cullen after Hudson took the request on board. He suggested the group mark up a map with suggested changes and bring it back to November’s community board meeting.
“I would be looking at making it as simple as possible,” Walsh told The News. “The less confusion the better.”
Cullen said he welcomed news of the meeting.
