Converting all-day space to 35 1-hour parks backed

Quicker turnover of carparks is set to come to a busy shopping area in South Dunedin, pleasing key business operators and worrying some workers.

It is expected to ease parking pressure near Mitre 10 Mega and the new Kmart store, but exacerbate challenges for staff at nearby fast-food restaurants looking for parks before they come to work.

A Dunedin City Council hearings committee yesterday backed converting all-day parking space to 35 one-hour parks in Andersons Bay Rd and McBride St.

Hearing chairman Cr Jim O’Malley said the council was responding to business needs.

The council had initially proposed 35 unrestricted spaces be converted into short-term parking, but staff adjusted the proposal to 16 spaces in Andersons Bay Rd as a result of feedback.

Representatives from Mitre 10 Mega and Kmart argued the council got it right the first time.

Kmart national property manager Jeffrey Broomfield said the store had performed well above expectations in its first three months of operation.

Customers had not complained to the firm about the amount of parking, he said.

Kmart supported changing 35 all-day parks into restricted parking.

Mitre 10 Mega Dunedin group chief executive Neil Finn-House said there had been a material change in demand for shopper parking and the area now met the test for restricted parking.

Store owner and Otago Land Group director Martin Dippie said on-street parking should reflect and support retail activities in the area.

The land group’s tenants provided on-site parking, but it was not always available, he said.

Asked about progress on a potential two-storey parking building outside Mitre 10 Mega, Mr Dippie said it might or might not go ahead.

There was complexity associated with building there, he said.

His brother Allan Dippie, Home Centre Properties director, said short-stay visitor and customer parking needed to have priority.

Tenants of the property firm included Burger King, Wendy’s Hamburgers, Subway and Domino’s.

He described owner-operators in the area as half-pleased about foot traffic and half-worried because of parking.

Workers from Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s were among the people who put in submissions to the council.

Common themes included worries about finding parking ahead of work shifts and returning to vehicles some distance away at night.

Andersons Bay Rd Wendy’s Hamburgers general manager Paul Abordonado told the Otago Daily Times staff had a hard time finding parking near their workplace.

‘‘It’s very difficult for us, for work, in this kind of industry,’’ he said.

The other main issue for the hearing was striking a balance between the needs of people travelling to use the Logan Park sports fields and residents in the area.

Bringing in time restrictions was backed for 20 parks, including two five-minute parks, in Harbour Tce.

This was described as a compromise, after a much larger conversion rate had been proposed initially.

Eighteen carparks would have a four-hour limit from 9am, then a two-hour limit from 1pm and be unrestricted after 5pm.

The move was aimed at creating more parking turnover next to Logan Park in the busy after-school period.

grant.miller@odt.co.nz