Today the Waitaki District Council's committee of the whole will decide whether the ageing park and display meters should be replaced and parking fees raised sharply or if it should vote to follow the chamber board's recommendation of a 12-month free-parking trial.
Board member Dan Lewis said renewing the parking machines would not benefit the community at all.
"The proposed increase in parking charges will only serve to meet the costs of the new meters, and could potentially leave us with a deficit should motorists refuse to pay the 150% increase in fees," he said.
The increase in parking charges would remove substantially more money from the local economy - $4 per day for all-day parking might sound like a good deal, but $20 a week for five days would cost more than $1000 a year.
On-street parking could rise from 60c an hour to $1.50 and off-street from 40c to $1.20.
"This has the potential to drain close to $1 million from our local economy over the next five years - money not being retained within our district. It will also not promote the turnover of parking spaces, which in theory is the point of charging for parking," Mr Lewis said.
Under time-restricted parking, there would be more enforcement required, creating local employment.
By adding less than $10 a year to Oamaru and Corriedale wards rates, there was a real saving to all users.
"Even for somebody who came to town once a week and paid for an hour's parking, this would save nearly $70 a year.
The chamber "strongly urges trialling a time-limited option before committing us to another 10 years of expensive parking," Mr Lewis said.
