A final solution to Dunedin's unpopular parking plan is now three weeks away, with a November 5 Dunedin City Council meeting set to hear the results of a working party's investigations.
Changes have been promised "well before the Christmas shopping period".
The parking working party chairman, deputy mayor Syd Brown, yesterday called a press conference to update the public on the issue.
Late last month, the council bowed to public pressure and backed down from its unpopular parking strategy, promising to review it in its entirety.
Cr Brown said the working party had been working through "a mountain of public comment, business reaction and research data".
It had met groups including the Automobile Association and the Road Transport Forum, which represented goods and service vehicle users.
Four subcommittees had been established to examine areas of concern, with reports from those expected at the end of October.
Cr Brown said different sectors of the community had widely varying views on whether the parking strategy had been a success.
The working party had reviewed data it called for, and the results showed that in most areas, drivers were parking for between 35 and 45 minutes.
That meant the four-hour time limits were clearly unnecessary.
In other areas, some people were staying for four hours, but occupancy was as low as 5%.
Having four-hour parking for $1 an hour in Cumberland St was clearly a wrong decision, as campervans had been parking there for long periods.
"We realise it's not a fair outcome, and the working party will be working to resolve that issue."
Asked whether the council had lost parking revenue since the July changes, he said there had been a "slight increase".
Cr Brown said the parking strategy had not been the source of the problems.
They had instead been caused by a "slight disconnect" between the strategy and the decisions council staff had made on details.
Discussions with retailers had shown each had a different idea of the sort of parking they wanted, from fast food shops wanting five or 10-minute time limits, and clothing shops, for instance, wanting longer.
Otago Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Christie had been co-opted by the working party to speak for retailers.
