Parking woes mystify DCC

Mornington residents and retailers are urged to detail their parking issues with the Dunedin City Council so proper consultation can start.

Various Mailer St business owners and shop assistants have told the Otago Daily Times about a lack of parking space in the area. Some claim they lost customers because of parking difficulties and others say time-limit parks outside their shops are constantly occupied by residential vehicles for hours on end.

But Mornington residents are also frustrated with the present parking situation, saying they are unable at times to park their vehicles outside or near their homes.

One Porteous St resident said members of the business community regularly used residential parks, even when home owners had paid the council for parking signs.

DCC development services manager Kevin Thompson said the council had not received any complaints about Mornington parking and he and other staff were perplexed by the alleged frustrations.

He wondered whether complaints were getting through to the "appropriate people" at the council.

DCC senior traffic engineer Ron Minnema said there was a total review of parking in the Mornington area about five or six years ago. Since he came back to work at the DCC last April, he had " heard absolutely nothing from Mornington".

Any complaints or feedback should be lodged in detail through the council's customer services agency, along with correspondents' contact information, he said.

That would enable the council to investigate further, Mr Minnema said.

"Some of those local activity zones can be quite complex because different retailers have different needs.

"What we would do is try and ascertain whether we've got an issue that affects, say, all of the local activity zone or is it just an isolated complaint," he said.

The council would avoid reviewing the whole zone if just a few minor tweaks were needed.