Parking fee increase following adoption of Annual Plan

Wellington City Council has adopted its Annual Plan/Mahere ā-Tau for 2019/20, with changes to fees and user charges coming into effect 1 July 2019.

Wellington City Council provides parking to facilitate convenient access to the city by vehicle for residents, local businesses and customers.

A growing population and subsequent competing demands on the city’s street space (new cycleways, pedestrian-focused developments, priority bus lanes and construction sites) means that parking spots in the city are at a premium, while demand and the costs of maintaining the service continue to increase.

We need to make the best use of our limited street space and want to encourage more people to walk, cycle or ride public transport, instead of using private vehicle transport and parking.  

• Feedback from residents, retailers and businesses was that there is a lack of parking availability in the high-occupancy areas of the CBD. To maintain a healthy retail and commercial sector in the central city we have to be smarter and more effective in how we make the maximum use of limited parking spaces. Increasing fees in the central city will help us do that by quicker turnover and higher occupancy in the available parks.

• The fee increase proposal was part of the Council’s Annual Plan consultation. Residents were invited to provide feedback on the Annual Plan throughout May, which we do every year to give residents a say on the future of our city and the reasons changes are proposed. We also held a live question and answer forum where people could ask councillors and officers questions about the Annual Plan.

• The changes to the parking fees that were adopted by Council as part of the Annual Plan are as follows:

  • Limit free parking for Freyberg Pool and gym members to two hours per day, but with an additional two hours available at the hourly rate of $2.50 (increase $2.50 per hour).

  • Increase coupon parking, including suburban trade coupons (Monday to Friday) from $8.50 to $12, per day (increase $3.50 per day). The monthly rate would move from $135 to $200 (increase $65 per month).

  • Change the 60-minute free parking zone in upper Cuba St to 120 minutes metered parking.

  • Change the cost of metered parking on the city fringe from $1.50 to $2.50 per hour, seven days a week (increase $1 per hour).

  • Increase the cost of metered parking (Monday to Friday) from $3 to $3.50 per hour in the green zone and $4 to $4.50 per hour in the yellow zone (increase $0.50 per hour). See maps and zone descriptions here https://letstalk.wellington.govt.nz/parking

  • Change the annual cost of a resident’s parking permit from $126.50 to $195 (increase $68.50 per year).

  • Change the coupon exemption permit from $71.50 to $120 per annum (increase $48.50 per year).

  • These changes will make sure those who use our parking services pay for it. They will also support our city’s goals to encourage greater use of public transport and active modes of transport. Revenue from parking helps fund roading infrastructure work that would otherwise be funded from rates.

  • In addition to these fee increases we will be trialling the use of fixed cameras to improve enforcement of bus lanes, bus stops, clearways and broken yellow lines. This approach to enforcement is already in operation in Auckland and Christchurch and is expected to improve efficiency of enforcement as well as reducing health and safety risks for our parking officers in these areas.

  • The Annual Plan will be available on the Wellington City Council website from 26 July. In the meantime you can find the proposal here and the Council adoption of the plan here.

  • We are also reviewing the Parking Policy and the Mobility Parking Policy. You can have your say on the issues we need to think about and what principles could inform how we manage the limited parking here. Your feedback will help to inform the new draft policy that we will formal consult you on later this year.

Background info

• Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) is a joint initiative between Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council and the NZ Transport Agency that will ensure our transport system supports how the people of Wellington want our city to look, feel and function. Supporting LGWM are a number of significant projects such as Planning for Growth and First to Zero, that will help define how our city changes to meet the significant challenges that we will be facing in the next 30 years.

• We are facing some challenges in the coming 30 years that will have a big impact on how we live in Wellington:

  • accommodating population growth

  • increasing economic activity

  • moving more people with fewer vehicles

  • reducing greenhouse gas emissions

  • improving air and water quality

  • protecting and enhancing the qualities of our city that make people want to live, work, play and invest in Wellington.

-wcc