A second workshop between central city business interests and the Tauranga City Council takes place today in an attempt to unravel central city parking woes.

The workshops are an endeavour to solve conflicting interests; the city wants to maximise parking revenue, while businesses want to increase foot traffic.

The parking meter. The source of much complaint in central Tauranga.

The workshops arose from business concerns that the rising cost of central city parking and the associated policing regime is driving customers to suburban precincts where there is free parking.

Today's workshop is being held in the Baycourt exhibition space and it is the result of a Tauranga Mainstreet initiative to have the city councillors explore all the central city parking issues before recommendations are set in the planning process.

In January, Tauranga Mainstreet manager Kirby Weis expressed concerns about the information councillors were receiving about the parking issues, saying they were under unfair and unrealistic pressure to make a decision on the information then available.

The workshops idea was made at an annual plan discussion meeting where councillors heard a presentation by Auckland-based MRCagney consultants advocating pricing parking to control use – increasing parking prices in areas of high demand and high turnover and lowering them elsewhere.

The current series of workshops include city councillors and city council transportation staff, industry professionals, the chamber of commerce, the Property Council and city centre action group.