What are the Key Issues?

1. Parking supply

With a growing population, there will be more pressure on parking.

We estimate that within the Rangiora Town Centre alone, we’ll need to supply an additional 800 carparks by 2048, assuming the current levels of private motor vehicle reliance stay relatively the same.

There is limited land in some of our town centres for developing new carparks and it’s possible we’d lose access to land we’re currently leasing for temporary parking as new private development occurs.

2018 census data shows that 59.45% of New Zealand households have access to two or more cars per home, meaning there is a strong reliance on private motor vehicle travel and its associated parking.

The National Policy Statement on Urban Development 2020 (NPS-UD) removes minimum parking standards for new developments, which may mean we’ll need to address any resulting car parking shortfalls due to limited public and alternative transport opportunities for our rural communities.

Supplying additional car parking is also expensive; particularly on premium town centre land and places a burden on the community to pay for more expensive parking infrastructure.

2. Parking demand

There is a high demand for parking in the Blake and Ashley Street public carparks in Rangiora, which at times results in occupancy higher than desired levels. Elsewhere, we also have suburban or rural shopping centres, retirement homes, schools, churches etc. which place pressure on the local parking supply at peak times.

Some people prefer to park in immediate proximity to their desired destination rather than walking for a few minutes, which can often be perceived as a shortage of supply. There is also a growing demand for all-day parking options within the town centre for workers who need to come and go during the daily course of their business operations.

As the cost of managing existing parking and funding an increased supply escalates, we’ll need to explore ways in which it can be made more affordable for the ratepayer. The introduction of user-pays parking could help, but we’d need to consider any potential for adverse impacts on shopping/visitation behaviour and the economic performance of the District.

The cost of new car parking can range from $5,500 for one ground-level park to around $30,000-$35,000 for a single park in a multi-level parking building.

It’s important to note that the public perception of parking availability can be at odds with actual supply. There can often be a disconnect between ideal levels of parking as determined by specialist transport consultants and public expectations.

3. On-street parking space management

Changing priorities in transport and the move to alternative transport modes such as bicycles, e-scooters and car ride share services place increasing competition on some on-street parking.

Our aging population may also require different priorities from our management of on-street parking spaces, for instance additional mobility parking.

It’s estimated that in the Waimakariri District in 2020, 34% of the local population is aged 40-64 years and 20% are 65 years or over.

4. Transport emissions

As our District is rural in nature, there is a high reliance on cars for travel when compared to other metropolitan areas. Due to limited public transport options, and with active transport modes such as cycling not always being appropriate for wide travel within the District, it is harder to transition the community out of their vehicles.

While it’s important that we don’t oversupply parking and incentivise increased transport emissions, we must provide sufficient parking to meet the needs of the community as we transition through the various transport changes over the coming years, such as the move to electric vehicles.

Over the long-term, we could see a reduction in parking demand against projected requirements depending on the type of alternative transport technologies that are commonly adopted and with improved public transport options. However, a reasonably high level of car parking is still likely to be required to meet the travel and access needs of the community.

5. Ratepayer perceptions

The Council undertakes regular customer satisfaction surveys to measure residents’ opinions on Council services and facilities, including parking. While most respondents are generally satisfied with off-street parking in the District, there is a growing perception that more supply is required.

A short community parking survey (Let’s Talk Parking) was completed earlier this year to identify parking issues from the community’s perspective. According to the 400 respondents, the top three issues were: an undersupply of carparks (49% of contributors), traffic flow/congestion on the main streets in the town centres (39%), and limited town centre parking for all day workers (37%).