Pay and display parking machines could be on the way for Wanaka.
About 30 people attended a public meeting on Thursday night called by the Wanaka Community Board to discuss parking in Wanaka.
Queenstown Lakes District Council transport manager Denis Mander told the meeting a review of transport in Wanaka was under way, and that would lead to a plan to improve the availability of parking.
One of the options being considered was pay and display machines in the central area of the town which would provide 30min of free parking, and then charge after that.
Nelson had such a system.
As well, a tightening-up of the time limits on parking was being considered, Mr Mander said.
That was likely to include the introduction of a time limit on the 136 parks in the Dungarvon St car park, regularly used by commuters.
Community board chairwoman Rachel Brown said 60 new car parks were due to be in place nearby in Brownston St, next to Pembroke Park, before the end of the year.
Mr Mander said Wanaka had 280 on-street and 390 off-street car parks, and his surveys showed some cars were effectively being ''stored'' in council car parks or on some streets.
The Brownston St car park, for instance, had eight or nine cars that were in the ''long stay'' category, Helwick St about six, Dungarvon St about 15 and Russell St about a dozen.
Mr Mander considered there was ''room for improvement'', with about 25% of Wanaka's parking capacity ''sucked up'' by poor compliance.
Several members of the public were concerned at moves that might discourage motorists looking for a park in the town centre, opting instead for the free parking that was part of the Three Parks development.
Mr Mander said Wanaka needed to be ''careful about perceptions'' and pointed to central Auckland's reputation for having a lack of parking.
''We have to be aware of the signals we are sending to people.''
Some members of the public promoted the idea of a parking building on council land in central Wanaka.
There was considerable debate around who might provide such a building.
Board member Lyal Cocks said the cost would be about $40,000 per park.
Board member Callum MacLeod said Queenstown's Mann St car park building was underutilised, a ''classic example'' of an unwillingness to pay to use such facilities.
Mr Mander said the council was not proposing to build a parking building and no-one had approached the council with the idea of doing so, but he believed it was important for the council to ''protect its options'' by not selling land in the centre of town.
He described parking as a big part of his job, and something that ''never satisfies people''.
