Add in the ice cream melting faster than you can eat it, the athletic antics of the surfies atop the breakers, and the crump of the foamy waves as they continue to erode the ground beneath your feet and you’ve got a typical visit to the foreshore at St Clair.
But there’s one thing missing at the Dunedin beach resort, like there often is. A car-parking space. You’ve come round for the first time, hunted slowly and carefully, thought for a moment you’d found one, only to find there’s a tiny vehicle tucked into it.
Round you go again. Quick, there’s one, so you pull over to move into it. A large SUV shoots past and without indicating drives straight into the space.
How many times has this been your experience of going to St Clair? Of getting giddy driving in circles, giving up and heading to find a space on one of the neighbouring streets?
For most, there’s no good reason why walking five, even 10, minutes to the beach should be a problem. But for those of advancing years or with mobility problems, who just want to get out of their car and walk a short distance to sit on a bench so they can watch the ocean, it is an off-putting experience.
We haven’t experienced many halcyonic beach days this week, but even on the windiest occasions, with the wildest, foaming seas, there are plenty who enjoy the stinging blast of spray and ozone from a walk along the Esplanade.
Sensibly, the Dunedin City Council is now moving to do something about the poor St Clair parking situation. On Thursday it released a proposal which is bound to polarise, but which we believe most will welcome on the grounds of fairness for all.
The big issue is those people who park vehicles along the Esplanade and in adjacent streets and then leave them for the day. Without any restrictions, nothing can be done.
The council’s intention is to change unrestricted parking spaces down the Esplanade, along Forbury Rd and Second Beach Rd, to either two-hour or four-hour time-restricted spaces, along with adding several five-minute slots and variable time zones for small mobile businesses.
The council’s group manager of transport, Jeanine Benson, says there have been numerous requests for the changes which, by increasing the availability of parking spaces, will benefit local businesses, the community and visitors.
Initial reaction to the plan has been mixed. While local business owners can see the benefits of lifting the turnover of visitors to the area, Surfing New Zealand has pointed out that all-day parks are sometimes necessary when competitions are held.
That is a valid concern. But we’re sure allowances for such events can be made with appropriate notice, and encourage Surfing NZ to explain their need for that in a submission.
We believe this proposal will help alleviate the issue of visitors deciding not to stop at all, either at the beach or a cafe or restaurant, because there is nowhere to park.
Unfortunately, the days when Dunedin folk could park their cars right outside their shop of choice are over.
However, with this proposal the council is doing what it can to make sure everyone has an equal opportunity to park as close as possible.
Those who are against it may want to consider it is only time restrictions being added, and parking on those roads is still going to be free.
If this is adopted, gone may be the days of having to circle like sharks.
Paying for the weather
While much of the rest of the country endured hideous weather this week, Otago had the best of a bad situation.
That is not always the case, as a pan-insurance company study of wild weather for the six months to February, released this week, shows. Otago residents submitted more insurance claims, 1050, than any other region, due to the heavy rainstorm in early October.
It’s a good reminder that our region remains as vulnerable to storms as others, even if we got off lightly this week.
