Recently reported by Sunlive (August 21­­, 2017) was the in-house Cr Malloy debacle created over the views if/when the council car park build between Harrington House/Twin Towers occurs. Cr Malloy reversed direction, likely under pressure imposed? The result (big loss, little win): drop two levels (119 less car parks), borrow $4.5 million less!

The problem remedied was clear to all councillors before. The CBD will lose some 900 carparks because all developments/builds have no parking or occupy land currently used for car parking (example: university build) or inadequate (Trustpower/new IRD/many others). Some councillors pointed to the obvious: lose 900, gain 400 not 520, the gap is bigger, less parking available so more congestion.

The real issue is this: TCC has exempted CBD development from including adequate on-site parking. It gets no money from developers for that and instead borrows $28 million, all on ratepayers, to build less than half the needed replacement parking? If lack of parking is the prime cause of the CBD decline then no matter whatever dreams TCC have to remedy it, the self-created obstacles just got larger.

Solution: cost perhaps $1 million (not another $28 million plus grandiose parking building), add 400-500 CBD parking spaces by making alternating one-way streets between Cameron/Willow/Devonport and Elizabeth/Mission Streets all angle-parking.

No debt, now, more parking, paid for in a year – win, win, win, win.

I Stevenson, Tauranga (Abridged).