If part of Dunedin's lower Dowling St car park is redeveloped, adding a multistoreyed car-parking building on the site will be "critical'' for the area's future, Les Mills club manager Peter Lee says.
Mr Lee was concerned to learn yesterday about an Otago Regional Council proposal to establish a new head office in part of the Dunedin City Council car park, at 15 Dowling St, across the street from the gym.
"There needs to be consideration for car parking.''
Mr Lee said he had emailed DCC group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie
seeking discussions over the parking issue.
That email had since been forwarded to DCC property manager Kevin Taylor.
"We have been here for over 35 years,'' Mr Lee said.
"One of the main reasons we're here is because of the car parks. It's critical.''
Mr Lee, who has been club manager at the gym for the past 23 years, said he was "not opposed'' to the ORC establishing its head office, with its planned 126-strong staff complement, in part of the car-parking site.
"It would certainly bring benefits to the area.''
The ORC hopes to establish, by March 2019, a three-level 3000sq m head office building with vehicle parking.
Mr Lee said if the ORC development went ahead it was crucial the DCC established a multistoreyed parking building elsewhere on the site, because the ORC building would take up at least about a third of the available car parks.
There were more than 120 individual parks at the site, but many were leased, and only about 60 were available for casual use.
