Tauranga CBD business owners express frustration over closure of two popular car parking areas – NZ Herald

There is concern the closure of two popular parking spaces will result in a reduction of foot traffic in Tauranga’s city centre, with one retailer describing it as a “huge disruption” for his “already struggling” business.

These comments come after Tauranga City Council permanently closed the Devonport Rd car park for redevelopment, while the Dive Cres car park has been temporarily shut as part of plans to transform the city centre’s waterfront.

Bill Campbell, who owns Fancy That, a souvenir shop in Tauranga’s CBD, said the removal of the parking space on Devonport Rd would cause “huge disruption” for his business which was already “struggling” because of the lack of customers

“We have known it’s been coming for a while, but removal of the car park is just another stumbling block for the public to be able to come to Tauranga. How do they think we are going to survive without people?”

The council continued to “take car parks away”.

He said planned building work on Devonport Rd, which included the construction of the council’s new office building, would not cause more disruption for businesses on the street as it could not get “any worse” than it already was.

“We have already been disrupted as we are – so it’s not going to make any difference.”

In December, a two-year council trial of free on-street parking came to an end to help encourage a higher turnover of parks.

The Boho Store director Barbara Elliot was already fielding complaints from customers expressing frustration over how it was “too hard” to find affordable parks. She said these closures would make it even “more difficult” for people driving into town.

However, Elliot remained hopeful that the situation would improve in the years to come as developments in the CBD were finished and more businesses filled the vacant buildings.

“We feel quite positive about downtown which is why we are sticking here. It will be difficult for a couple of years but I think once the construction has finished I can see downtown Tauranga as being a destination town.”

Tauranga barber James Allison, who works on Devonport Rd, said he used to park at the Dive Cres space as it was cheaper than on-street parking.

He said the temporary closures were a “bit of a bummer” for those who worked in the CBD, with Allison now planning on catching the bus or getting dropped at work.

“Paying for the street parks every day works out to be about $140 a week for me. It’s a big chunk of my pay cheque – it kind of sucks. They have taken away the two cheapest places for free parking.”

Casual Kitchen owner Grant McLellan feared his business would be negatively impacted now the two parking spaces had closed.

McLellan, who produces ready meals for delivery and runs a deli, said he was “considering closing” the shopfront of his store as the “foot traffic was really bad”.

“I am considering closing the front part off because it’s just too hard.

“Financially we might have to because they are taking parks away. Parking here is terrible. It’s really hard to find one and everyone is getting tickets.”

Meanwhile, Bay of Plenty Regional Council customer contact manager Rachael Burgess told the Bay of Plenty Times the Devonport Rd car park closure had “no doubt” impacted some staff who would “now need to park elsewhere or look to alternative modes of transport.

“We understand the frustrations that parking can cause, particularly within the city centre, but we are also dedicated to encouraging our staff and community to look at more environmentally friendly ways of getting around.”

Tauranga City Council city development and partnership general manager Gareth Wallis said it was an “exciting time” for the city centre, with several development projects underway including the transformation of the waterfront and construction of the council’s future office building on Devonport Rd.

Wallis said upgrading the Dive Crescent car park – which currently had 120 parking spaces – was “one of the first projects” happening along the waterfront meaning temporary closure was necessary. However, he expected it would have reopened by April.

“We acknowledge this temporary closure may inconvenience some people, and we ask people to use alternative options such as on-street parking, and the nearby Cliff Road and Northern Strand car parks.”

In response to criticism from retailers, Wallis believed these changes would “ultimately help increase the turnover of vehicles in the city centre and, as intended, free up more parking spaces for retail shoppers”.