Parking review in 6 months

Cars will be banned from parking along Kawarau Rd from next month. Photo: ODT.
Cars will be banned from parking along Kawarau Rd from next month. Photo: ODT.
The impact of parking restrictions in Frankton will be reviewed in six months, partly because residents were not consulted.

At their meeting on Thursday, Queenstown Lakes district councillors approved  48-hour restricted parking on Frankton streets west of Kawarau Rd.

Speaking at the public forum, Frankton Community Association chairman Glyn Lewers said the community had not been consulted.

An Opus consultant contacted him in February asking for general feedback on traffic and parking issues. But residents were "deeply disappointed" they were not asked for input into the options presented to councillors.

The 48-hour period was too permissive, and the restrictions needed to be extended to "new Frankton" on the eastern side of the highway, Mr Lewers said.

General manager property and infrastructure Peter Hansby conceded the association should have been consulted on options subsequently developed by council staff.

Asked by Mayor Jim Boult if the restrictions covered a wide enough area, Mr Hansby said staff had tried to find a balance between allowing non-residents to park in the area and preventing them "parking up for two weeks".

The restrictions will accompany the NZ Transport Agency ban on parking along State Highway 6, between the Kawarau and Shotover bridges, which comes into force next month.

Parking overspill from Queenstown Airport on to the Kawarau Rd section of the highway is considered a visual blight, and motorists pose a risk to other road users while parking.

The restrictions west of the highway are aimed at preventing the problem spreading into nearby residential streets.

Mr Boult gained unanimous approval from councillors for the parking restrictions to proceed unchanged, but on the condition staff monitor the impact of the parking ban and other transport changes.

Those changes included next month’s opening of Hawthorne Dr and the start of a revamped bus service later in the year.

The restrictions would be reviewed in six months’ time for "change and refinement", he said.

Comments

With the new unitary plan in Auckland there is an ever increasing number of apartments being built mainly in the in the CBD. Some have only a few car parks as people can walk, cycle or bus to work
Queenstown too needs apartments near the Town centre to give a better lifestyle and a view than a far away house and subsequent adding to traffic congestion

 

Advertisement