Parking issues are driving discussion at the Waterfront Master Plan consent hearings on at the Tauranga City Council.
Submitters, including Mainstreet Tauranga want to know what the council's plans are to replace the 300 car parks that will disappear when The Strand reclamation is turned into a waterfront park.
The Wraight and Associates' vision for Tauranga's waterfront redevelopment.
'We just wanted to know how council are planning to replace the 300 car parks that they are removing, and that they do have a plan for replacing them,” says Mainstreet Tauranga manager Kirby Weis.
According to the council's parking supply and demand projections, the replacement parks will not be required immediately.
Mainstreet wants assurances the replacement parking, in the form of a new parking building, is built in time to meet increasing demand.
Ripping up the car parks and planting grass and pohutukawa sounds simple enough, but the project requires consents for both the land side works and the inter-tidal area that will be affected when walkways and new water access are constructed.
For that reason, the resource consent application is a joint one by Tauranga City Council and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, says TCC project manager Tony Bodger.
'There's a lot of evidence we have had to produce for this because it is quite a big project all in all,” says Tony.
'Once the hearing's finished the commissioners will go away and write a report.
'We'll get to know the result of that in the next two or three weeks.
'Obviously there will be a fair few conditions attached which there are to any sort of consent of this size.
'That's pretty much what they are going through at the moment.
'Our planner's just going through the conditions of consent that TCC and BOPRC have put together.”
The consents sought are for the Tauranga Waterfront Master Plan, which can be viewed here: www.tauranga.govt.nz/council-projects/tauranga-waterfront.aspx
11 comments
Carpark Issue.
Posted on 31-08-2011 12:26 | By Lois
Of course it will surface....WHERE the hell do you park when you're 70-76yrs and you want to have a meal downtown/strand, and you have trouble walking.
Again
Posted on 31-08-2011 12:35 | By Colleen Spiro
We have heard it all before, many times......It's getting boring now. They probably could have built the LOT, with the money they have paid out in consultation fees and plans.
Posted on 31-08-2011 12:54 | By dgk
So all the cars I see parked there every day are just part of my overactive imagination. I guess all the parking fees that TCC collects from there are imaginary as well. And I second the call for what the TCC is planning for the existing huge demand from the elderly and/or infirm for parking spots close to our restaurant district. Looks like we'll need to oppose the resource consent on this one, just like we did for the idiot ideas at the hot pools.
Carparks are Essential
Posted on 31-08-2011 13:25 | By Gregmilla
Removing carparks will restrict access to the heart of the city. People don't want to walk blocks from a carparking building to their destination. Typically, shopping centres with carparking benefit from this type of re-development. Yes, more shoppers will go to Bayfair and the like. All this nonsense so that we can have a "downtown" playground which parents won't come to because there is no carparking handy? Who are the bright sparks who think of this stuff?
can't they build a new carpark building in the downtown area?
Posted on 31-08-2011 15:41 | By wreck1080
why not?
Again
Posted on 31-08-2011 16:32 | By Jimmy51
Agree with all comments posted about this story but if we want change we need to get to the polling booths and vote these muppets out they are the reason why people are leaving this city in numbers AND they are the reason why it is so expensive to live in this city!!!
Car Park
Posted on 31-08-2011 17:04 | By The author of this comment has been removed.
A couple of years back our council called for public submissions for the future plan of our CBD. I appeared before that hearing and backed up with figures showed that without parking improvements (not reductions) the CBD was going to suffer a slow death. Unfortunately we have tree hugging/leather belt making/ water melons that at that time, and continue now, with this mad notion that as long as we keep subsidizing the yellow diesel belcher's that we will all leave our cars at home, so there is no need to build more car-parks or even improve any roads - what an absolute waste of time these sickly greenies are with their idealistic rubbish. If the town CBD is to survive, and in order to do that the businesses need to prosper, it will die, regardless of how many millions you waste on grandiose playground schemes. Our cars are the NZ way of life and you will not change that, since all the outlying shopping precincts provide good (sometimes covered) parking at absolutely no charge - Greenies, why don't you move to a real third world country where you might have a chance of being appreciated - I do't personally mind whether that would be the result or not - at least you would be out of our way.
@ JIMMY51, INSULT TO MUPPETS
Posted on 04-09-2011 10:31 | By RASPUTIN
If Muppets acted like politicians then no muppet would be allowed on TV again EVER!
@ MAIN STREET
Posted on 06-09-2011 00:32 | By PLONKER
Easy answer mate, 1. there is no plan, 2. the nearest to a plan is to have a politician promise to build a car park building six years later in 2019 (no use to anyone), of course we all know what politicians promises look like when the light of day sneeks in and lights up the place don't we! PS option 2. is actually the same as option 1.
MESS UP COMING
Posted on 08-09-2011 16:45 | By CRUMPY
Like we have all been here before, how many millions will go down this hole this time ...
It never left the place!
Posted on 11-09-2011 06:51 | By PREDATOR
The question of parking has always been there, the obvious reason is that Council are planning to eliminate 300 car parks on the strand but only replace them about 5-6 years later in 2019. As half the cars in the CBD are driving around looking for a car park the affect is going to be masive and of course drive yet more people out of town yet again to the suburb shopping areas. Is that what they are planning or do they not yet realise the affect of there actions?
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