In some cases changes mean motorists who work in the resort will pay a daily maximum of $40, for 10 hours, to park in a council-owned car park as of February. Further, free all-day parks at the One Mile roundabout and in the Queenstown Gardens will be removed.
One of the aims of the programme - an initiative between the NZ Transport Agency, Otago Regional Council, Queenstown Airport Corporation and the Queenstown Lake District Council - was to reduce congestion by encouraging greater use of public transport, walking and biking.
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If approved by the district council tomorrow, the changes to parking charges and availability will be phased in from mid-November to March.
However, central Queenstown resident Carolyn Hill said the parking and transport proposals would ''choke the life out of town''.
''The stated aim of the downtown plan ... is to increase the diversity and vibrancy of the town,'' Ms Hill said.
''If the current interim plan proceeds, there will be no need for a downtown plan as the downtown will have lost all its inner city dwellers, workers, locals residents who don't fit on to the bus route or don't want to go home with the last bus, [and] business professionals needing access to transport during their working day.''
While she applauded the vision of the present council to seek feedback on issues before solutions were implemented, Ms Hill implored them to ''stop and actually listen to the feedback''.
Under the council's plan, the first phase - increasing council car park charges to between $1 and $4 an hour and the introduction of a new pay-and-display park on Coronation Dr - was expected to come into effect on December 4.
The change is timed to coincide with the introduction of $2 bus fares, planned for November 20.
Final changes, pegged for introduction on February 5, would remove the all-day and weekly parking options from council-owned parks.
Council-issued permit parking and free, all-day parks at the One Mile roundabout and Queenstown Gardens would be removed from March 31.
Parking would also be banned on road verges.
Despite the council not yet having held the meeting where the item will be discussed, Cr Alexa Forbes said, in a statement sent out by council communications and engagement manager Naell Crosby-Roe on Monday night, the community needed to be ''attentive'' to the changes before they found themselves affected.
She also said ''adopting the proposed changes this week is the beginning of a clear signal''.
''This is a critical opportunity for commuters to rethink their transport options.
''Reality check: you cannot provide an affordable and heavily subsidised bus transport system and at the same time provide cheap or free parking options.
''It is seriously time to change how we travel and park.''
Other parts of the changes include the identification and installation of 25 stops for bus routes that have not yet been announced.
Amendments to some existing stops are also proposed.
Infrastructure principal Tony Pickard said, in his report to the council, the revenue from parking charges had previously been reinvested in ''the general fund'', after covering operational charges and meter maintenance.
The surplus had now been allocated to the council's share of a subsidy for public transport fares and, if that was exceeded, into public transport infrastructure.
The council share of the subsidy is expected to be $600,000 a year with an extra $300,000 allocated to cover risk.
It is expected the parking charge surplus will exceed that needed for the subsidy.
