The increases could negatively affect business in the CBD, the Otago Chamber of Commerce says.
A Dunedin City Council staff report recommends that street parking increase by between 50c and $1, depending on the area.
If adopted, the changes would take effect on July 1.
Council transport strategy manager Nick Sargent said the charges had been stagnant for 10 years.
The council report said the proposal addressed the "significant period of time since a fee increase" and began the process of reviewing on and off-street parking costs in the central city.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand puts inflation in the past 10 years at 17%.
The proposal indicates half-hour parks on Princes and George Sts would increase from $1.50 to $2 per 30 minutes.
Parks in the city’s "core zone" would increase from $3 to $4 per hour, in the "inner zone" from $2 to $3 and in the "outer zone" from $1 to $1.50.All-day parking in the outer zone would rise from $5 to $6.
The increases would bring an extra $1.5 million in revenue to the council per year.
The council will discuss the proposal tomorrow.
Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan said the cost could negatively affect the behaviour of shoppers in the central city.
"It’s supply and demand. When prices go up, people will change their behaviour.
"There could be less money spent in shops because there’s more money spent in parking meters."
A more positive step for retailers would be to shorten parking limits.
There would be retailers with various opinions on the changes, and the chamber would discuss the plan at its next retail committee meeting, he said.
The increase is partly to pay for a $1.73 million increase in costs for the transport department.
These relate mostly to planning work for the central city, and tertiary, bridge and cycling projects.
It will also spend an additional $333,000 on new personnel equalling 5.6 full-time equivalent staff.
This includes an extra transport planner and a part-time role supporting the LED street-light renewal.
A new full-time role will co-ordinate parking management across the city and run "regulatory processes to make parking changes".
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Comments
Parking meters are meant to disincentivise clogging of parking spaces, not be a levy to supplement rates intake.
Enough of this madness. Put the price up, just because they haven't put them up for a while!
What about the annual rate increases at a rate above inflation, compounding, every year.
This Cull council is progressing its agenda on the backs of ratepayers and leaving 1000's of poorer families behind.
It's shameful.
Yes, discussed at the Council meeting tomorrow commencing 9.00 am, instead of the usual 1.00 pm start. So very few members of the public will be able to attend as observers.
Remove a few hundred car parks for stupid cycle lanes and then put the price up on the remaining ones. Nice one DCC.
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There are thounands parks on both sides of almost every street in Dunedin. 99% of them are still free.
Increase parking and fill those empty buses
So we give Freedom Campers free parking, taking away income from local business in the process (not to mention the cost to ratepayers for the on-site services) and then we up the price for locals parking. Any argument about the income these campers bring to town is IMO exaggerated as they generally don't appear to spend on much more than some food for themselves and their vehicles.
Thoroughly disapprove of the thought processes council seem to apply to parking. As curios said, use the meters to ensure appropriate use of convenient vs inconvenient parks, and to recover costs of provision & enforcement. Other than that, back off.
Chamber of Commerce chief executive Dougal McGowan is absolutely right!
Reduce the number of car parks, narrow the roads to make getting into town harder, stick curb protrusions everywhere to make driving even harder, push bike travel at the cost of car travel (because it's so easy to take your purchases home on a bike, right?!) and then increase the cost of parking.
It seems to me, Dave Cull and his council are determined to kill of business in Dunedin.
We all know DCC want to remove all vehicles from George st, Stuart St and the Octagon. So how much revenue will be lost due to that? and how much more will charges in other parking be increased to cover it?
And why is the LED lighting program being put up as a need to recover costs elsewhere. If the LED light doesn't stack up in being self funded via cost saving then it shouldn't be done.
This council really are just out of control, no idea of fiscal responsibility.
We come to Dunedin quite regularly but we avoid the city's parking metered area like the plague. Do most of our shopping at Christchurch or Nelson in their malls that have free parking. Parking fees in Dunedin are a rip off compared to other South Island's towns and cities..