A Building owner is calling on the Dunedin City Council to rethink its approach to parking changes before a street upgrade and laneway project in Bond St.
Tony Purvis was the only submitter to appear before the council's traffic and parking bylaw subcommittee yesterday and voice concern over planned parking changes in Bond St.
The council had proposed to introduce more paid parking in the street, as part of changes being rolled out elsewhere in the warehouse precinct.
Changes had also been planned for the tertiary area, until a deluge of opposition from submitters prompted the council to delay that part of the roll-out earlier this month.
And, speaking at yesterday's hearing, council transport strategy manager Nick Sargent said the council had now also rethought some changes proposed for Bond St.
That was in response to public feedback and because the council planned to begin the next section of streetscape improvements - on Bond and Water Sts - later this year, followed by construction.
The project would include long-awaited improvements to the Bond St alleyway, as part of a project to convert the area into a Melbourne-style laneway.
But the council also needed to dig up much of Bond St, between Queen's Garden and Police St, to replace ageing underground infrastructure. That work was also planned for later this year.
That left Mr Purvis scratching his head, wondering why the council would consider parking changes on Bond St before completing the other work.
There was still plenty of parking available along the street, and the council would need to see how the other projects affected that before reconfiguring parking, he argued.
He also questioned the council's consultation, saying some residents and building owners on Bond St had been overlooked, which committee chairman Cr Andrew Whiley said would be "taken on board''.
A staff report showed the council had planned to change 68 free parks - a mix of unrestricted, P10, P60 and P90 spaces - to mainly $1-an-hour all-day or P120 spaces, along Vogel, Crawford and Bond Sts, between Police and Jetty Sts.
The existing P5, P30, authorised vehicle-only and mobility spaces would remain unchanged, as would the total number of parks available in the area.
The changes aimed to encourage the turnover of parks but, following public feedback, staff instead recommended leaving 12 free, unrestricted spaces on the east side of Bond St for apartment tenants.
Further changes on Bond St could then be considered after streetscape work was complete, and usage of the spaces could be monitored, staff said.
Other changes would proceed as planned, the subcommittee decided.
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Comments
Until the councils Melbourne style developments include a tram network (or similar) for getting people around town we need to allow for traffic and parking otherwise people can't access these areas. Having a Melbourne styled inner city would be great but having a people friendly city that people can't access would be a fail.
DCC planners really seem to have a romantic view of Melbourne lane ways. Some are hipster venues by day and into the evenings, with a bunch of cafe's and other venues.
But all are dingy, dirty, needle plagued pathways that most people avoid.
I'm really not sure what DCC are trying to build.