The comment by Dunedin City Council transport group manager Richard Saunders came as councillors at yesterday's full council meeting considered the latest round of proposed parking changes in the city.
The proposal, to be released for public consultation, would result in about 150 car parks around Dunedin Hospital, Otago Museum, the University of Otago and in Vogel St switched from free to $1 or $2-an-hour metered parks.
Time restrictions for most of the previously free parks would be dropped, except existing P5 and P30 spaces in Vogel St, meaning motorists would be able to pay up to $18 to stay all day.
The changes were designed to encourage greater turnover of car parks in under-pressure areas of the city, while also allowing people to stay longer - at extra cost.
Cr Lee Vandervis questioned Mr Saunders on the changes, asking what advice he had for commuters already forced to park further away from the central city.
Mr Saunders said there was no evidence all 150 car parks were used by commuters, but those who did could consider parking elsewhere, using public transport or car-pooling.
''Yes, it will become more difficult to find that in the centre of the city,'' he said.
Cr Vandervis was not impressed, saying the council was ''marginalising commuters who want to work in the central city, but are being made increasingly unwelcome there''.
The council needed to set a target of 400 to 500 new car parks each year, to cater for an increasing population and traffic congestion, or Dunedin's reputation as a ''10-minute city'' would be at risk, he said.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull disagreed, saying the council should set a goal of reducing car parks each year because of the benefits to public health and local businesses a move away from cars would deliver.
Cr Jim O'Malley said the latest proposals reflected the fact Dunedin was ''a city, not a town'', and was on the ''cusp'' of having to take a different approach to transport.
''If we go up in population, we have to have a system that takes everything into account. It's the start of what will be a series of steps we will have to take.''
Councillors - except Cr Vandervis - voted to approve the changes for public consultation, beginning on Monday and running for 15 working days.
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Comments
So Dave show his true colours...It's all about forcing Dunedin citizens to give up their cars and use public transport or bicycles. Thanks for looking after my health Dave, but I can manage that by myself!
I assume Dave uses his mayoral car park when he needs to go shopping in the city centre, So this certainly won't effect him. But I do question the Dunedin businesses who seem quite happy for this council and mayor to drive their customers away and onto internet shopping.
You don' have to give up your car- there are still car parks. Cities all over the world have addressed this problem of parking. Only small towns have the advantage of pulling up outside the local shop of choice.
Cr Vandervis is talking sense. The others appear to be a tax collection agency! intent on gutting CBD retailers by taking away more carparks. We have enough empty store fronts rotting and destroying our city's image. Look around DCC.
Thousands of cruise ship passengers don't think so. PLenty of shoppong going on there.
If Dave Cull truly believes that reducing car parks will benefit "public health and local businesses", he lives on a different planet to the rest of us.
It's total insanity that the council is throwing away $60 million of ratepayers money on a central city upgrade, when for years they've gone out of their way to stop people shopping there, by continually reducing car parks.
I used to spend a lot of money in the city centre, but since Mayor Cull's deliberate policy to make it more and more difficult to find a park and use local businesses, unfortunately all that shopping is now done online with companies outside of Dunedin.
This is not the Mayor's policy. The majority of councillors have listened to staff and local residents, seen what's happening around the world and voted accordingly. That is what makes policy not the Mayor.